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Police clearance certificate validity

sans

Member
Feb 8, 2009
13
0
Can I now have the police clearance from different places I lived earlier?
I can take the clearance certificate of the current place (where I am living now) during submission or later.

How long the police clearance certificate is valid?
 

wpc71

Hero Member
Dec 17, 2008
547
5
They say they are valid for three months only. However, I have read somewhere that police certificates from your CURRENT country of residence only need to be recent and the other ones can be older. I am not sure though.
 

john5655

Hero Member
Jan 25, 2009
217
0
wrong

they all need to be up to date certs

an old cert is worthless as something may have come to light after it was issued, think logically and you will understand why
 

sans

Member
Feb 8, 2009
13
0
My friend and I have worked in 12-13 places in 6-7 different countries and stayed everywhere for more than 6 months. Now we are in home country.

If the police certificate has to be recent then we will have to rush to get police clearance, when we are asked to submit the documents!!!. It take hell lot of time to get these documents specially from the places where we stayed only about 7-8 months and do not know many people over there.

What is the normal procedure to get these documents. Will they issue certification upon requesting from phone?
 
Jan 18, 2009
12
0
wpc71 is right. If you are not staying in a country from long time then you need to have UPDATED PCC frm that Place. But why i put "UPDATED" as u don't need updated one but you definetly need one. As per instuctions:-
If you have a lived at some place for more than 6 months consectively then you have to get the certificate. But my opinon is get the certificate from home country and from country where you are at present.
But not sure about anything. dicussion can resolve your problem. all the Best.
 

BobbyB

Champion Member
Feb 10, 2009
1,769
98
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With all due respect to everybody, Please read the FAQs on your countries Canadian Consulate Web-Sites respectively. This is from my country of residents web-site. The rules are almost all the same. Don't assume.

How long is my police clearance certificate valid?

Your police clearance certificate is valid for a period of one year from the date it was issued. If the validity has expired before your visa is issued you will be requested to provide an updated police certificate from the country you are currently living in. If you have already submitted police certificates from other countries where you have not recently lived you will not have to provide an update.

How do I obtain a police certificate?

Please see the following link for details on obtaining police certificates from all countries.

www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/index.asp


I have lived in several different countries. Do I have to provide a police clearance certificate from each one?

You will need to provide police clearance certificates from each country you have lived in for a period of more then 6 months since the age of 18.
 

john5655

Hero Member
Jan 25, 2009
217
0
thanks Bobby for your support

it really annoys me that people make posts on subjects that they know absolutely nothing about, have obviously never bothered to read the official documentation on the CIC website, and yet they are here on a forum about emigrating to Canada
 

wpc71

Hero Member
Dec 17, 2008
547
5
wrong

they all need to be up to date certs

an old cert is worthless as something may have come to light after it was issued, think logically and you will understand why
You can neber be so sure! I checked what I said today. I had applied under Simplified Procedure and in the letter I received from the Visa Office where I applied, it clearly says only PCC from your current country of residence needs to be recent. Think about it, how can I commit a crime in a country where I am not staying at the moment? So if I have a PCC from that country showing no criminal record during my stay, it should be all fine.
 

wpc71

Hero Member
Dec 17, 2008
547
5
rupeshhari,
You can be right. But I am not talking about a very very old PCC! In my case, I have lived in the US for longer than 6 months but that was 6 years ago. I have received the FBI clearance now but am still waiting for the one from my home country! So, if I get this, like in 3 months from now, the American one will be no good anymore. So I believe just a few month will not matter. Also the thing I pointed out regarding the letter from visa office is sure but it can apply to that specific visa office only.
 

john5655

Hero Member
Jan 25, 2009
217
0
wpc71

I wish you good luck, and please let us know if your strategy is successful,
however, CIC work to a set of rules (please refer to OP6), I do not believe they have any discretion to accept a PCC that is 40 years old or 15 months old if the rule is 12 months, it would be the same if you could only show proof of funds of $10,000 when they require $10,650

If I were you I would make sure my application and all supporting documents comply with CIC requirements

It would be foolish of me or any other person to advice you to the contrary

for Sans

applying for PCC to 6-7 countries "simultaneously" will take as long as the slowest response
 

wpc71

Hero Member
Dec 17, 2008
547
5
john5655
Thank you for the points. I do believe that debates like this will finally turn out to be fruitful. New ideas and helpful hints emerge.
Again, let's do not confuse what we mean by being "recent". When you first submit the docs,they need to be less than three months old. When they are processing your case, PCCS cannot be older than a year. I was talking about their age when you apply/submit.

Good luck to all,