Police clearance from home country for prolong absence from Canada

[Alex_78]

Hello

I landed as PR in 2008 May and left Canada after two weeks as I had family issues at that point. I was absent from Canada for about 3 years. Finally I came back in 2011 May and resumed my residence there after with 3 times vacation in home country. I am hoping to meet requirement of 1095 days of physical presence for applying for Citizenship on August 03' 2014. My question is do I have to get police clearance from home country for my prolong absence from Canada (as mentioned above 3 years) to apply for citizenship?

Also another thing to ask. I have been maintaining same passport since I landed as immigrant, so the passport has all the stamps for my travel. I got US visa last year but I did not make any travel to there. I can show my vacation dates (I took my vacation in home country) from my current employer (I have been working with them for last 2.5 years) to match my absence from Canada. My question is do I have to provide my entry information from CBSA, & US Customs and Border Protection? I am concerned with this as I took US visa but did not make travel to there.

I would appreciate if any one can help or share their real life story.

Thanks for taking the time to read my query.

 

[Goldline]

Hello

I landed as PR in 2008 May and left Canada after two weeks as I had family issues at that point. I was absent from Canada for about 3 years. Finally I came back in 2011 May and resumed my residence there after with 3 times vacation in home country. I am hoping to meet requirement of 1095 days of physical presence for applying for Citizenship on August 03' 2014. My question is do I have to get police clearance from home country for my prolong absence from Canada (as mentioned above 3 years) to apply for citizenship?

Also another thing to ask. I have been maintaining same passport since I landed as immigrant, so the passport has all the stamps for my travel. I got US visa last year but I did not make any travel to there. I can show my vacation dates (I took my vacation in home country) from my current employer (I have been working with them for last 2.5 years) to match my absence from Canada. My question is do I have to provide my entry information from CBSA, & US Customs and Border Protection? I am concerned with this as I took US visa but did not make travel to there.

I would appreciate if any one can help or share their real life story.

Thanks for taking the time to read my query.

A police clearance from home country is not required to apply for citizenship.
The US visa means you MAY have travelled to the US and didn't mention it.
Another issue is your PR card. did you renew it yet? Are you sure you stayed in Canada the required time to keep your permanent resident status??
Did you leave Canada since you came back in 2011??

 

[Alex_78]

A police clearance from home country is not required to apply for citizenship.
The US visa means you MAY have travelled to the US and didn't mention it.
Another issue is your PR card. did you renew it yet? Are you sure you stayed in Canada the required time to keep your permanent resident status??
Did you leave Canada since you came back in 2011??

Hello Goldline

Thank you for your response. I took the US visa but did not make any travel to US. So do I need to get entry record from US Border Protection Agency?

Yes I renewed my PR card last year. Got a brand new one with 5 years validity.

Since I came to back to Canada on May 28' 2011, I have been primarily living and working here. I made three trips to home country for vacation duration of which is 9 + 37+ 26 = 72 days. With 72 days of absence I should be able to make my 1095 days on August 03' 2014. However, I intend to apply on around August 10 just to be on safe side.

Thank you for your help.

 

[blueshirt]

there is nothing mentioned on the cic website or cic rule book that you need police clearance from home country. as a PR holder you already did this on PR process. for citizenship it is cic responsibility to do all the background check on you exception is just finger print report from you in case they ask. to be eligible for citizenship there are 5 criteria to pass just check cic website. i think 1095 days, english proficiency, no criminal record and proceeding, have a valid canadian residency imm document etc. your query is very simplified and is clearly available on cic website. you dont need CBSA report for submission anymore cic will fetch but if you have doubts on your passport stamps then you may order to just verify your absence properly to fill in the form. if you have never been to USA no need to order blank report. CBSA report is fine unless cic ask specific but you have no US ties no need. they will only drill your last stay country exit entry from there.Good luck and hope you got your response. my best wishes for you in your journey to become a canadian citizen one day.

 

[eileenf]

Personally I would highly recommend ordering your blank report from US CBP. While you probably don't have to submit it now with your application, it would be good to have on hand for the CIC test/interview or a possible RQ.

Since you are not a US citizen (and probably not from Mexico?), you can get it quickly by ordering your I-94 report: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html

Such documentation would provide independent proof of your situation and reinforce your credibility. The US does not always stamps passports, so CIC does not always regard the passport as the whole story. The presence of the visa shows that you intended to go to the US and that you went through the hassle of getting a visa. You will want to provide some independent proof that you didn't go. Ordering the report from the US CBP would provide that proof.

 

[blueshirt]

thanks eileenf for suggesting US CBP report. I am little worried now. I have never been to US ever not even any transit. is it still necessary to get the report will it be asked at interview. also my passport does not require visa to certain country so do I have to get entry exit for all the countries where I don't require visa on arrival. do cic have list of passports which don't require visa to certain country and ask for entry exit to those countries to be submitted. it will be lot of documentation and some might not give online facility

 

[eileenf]

thanks eileenf for suggesting US CBP report. I am little worried now. I have never been to US ever not even any transit. is it still necessary to get the report will it be asked at interview. also my passport does not require visa to certain country so do I have to get entry exit for all the countries where I don't require visa on arrival. do cic have list of passports which don't require visa to certain country and ask for entry exit to those countries to be submitted. it will be lot of documentation and some might not give online facility

Blueshirt, no...The key information is that the OP has a US visa, which indicates that she or he intended to go to the US and was given permission to go the US. In reality, the US usually stamps the passports of most visa holders, but depending on the circumstances, there's a small chance that they didn't. So, the OP should just order the report. It's easy, cheap, fast.

Typically this is more of an issue for work or open travel visas to the UAE or other Mid-East countries with a lot of foreign workers, especially when the applicant says they didn't go there but doesn't have independent proof. In general, if you have an open-ended visa in your passport, especially if you didn't use it and are claiming you were in Canada at the time, it's good to have some independent documentation ready.

But regarding proving that you've never been to every visa-exempt place, there's no compelling reason to do that. My home country passport is visa exempt to 159 countries. Did I need to provide 159 travel records proving that I'd never been to 157 of those places? No.

 

[Alex_78]

Personally I would highly recommend ordering your blank report from US CBP. While you probably don't have to submit it now with your application, it would be good to have on hand for the CIC test/interview or a possible RQ.

Since you are not a US citizen (and probably not from Mexico?), you can get it quickly by ordering your I-94 report:

Such documentation would provide independent proof of your situation and reinforce your credibility. The US does not always stamps passports, so CIC does not always regard the passport as the whole story. The presence of the visa shows that you intended to go to the US and that you went through the hassle of getting a visa. You will want to provide some independent proof that you didn't go. Ordering the report from the US CBP would provide that proof.

Hello Elieenf

Thank you for your suggestion. Could you give me an idea if an interview or RQ is given cause of US visa, how much of time it may require to clear this issue? Depending on time it may be worth to wait for few days once I fulfill my 1095 days and then apply for entry information from US CBP to send it together with application. Also do you have any information how long does it take to get US CBP entry record?

As a proof I have been working with this company for last 2.5 years, I can show my vacation statement from the employer. Fyi, my US visa is B-1/ B-2 type and I am not Mexican either, I hail from Asia. Also, I am a P.Eng. I can give an oath that I did not make any travel to US.

Appreciate what you think about this.

 

[eileenf]

Hello Elieenf

Thank you for your suggestion. Could you give me an idea if an interview or RQ is given cause of US visa, how much of time it may require to clear this issue? Depending on time it may be worth to wait for few days once I fulfill my 1095 days and then apply for entry information from US CBP to send it together with application. Also do you have any information how long does it take to get US CBP entry record?

As a proof I have been working with this company for last 2.5 years, I can show my vacation statement from the employer. Fyi, my US visa is B-1/ B-2 type and I am not Mexican either, I hail from Asia. Also, I am a P.Eng. I can give an oath that I did not make any travel to US.

Listen, this really isn't that big a deal. The visa probably isn't even a problem. But it's really easy to get the i94 report from CBP. They send it almost immediately. (I just mentioned Mexico because I don't believe North Americans get i94 records).
Easy to do + cheap + it might help + it won't hurt = why not do it?

Regarding RQ, you can read the link in my signature if you're interested. Are certain visas RQ triggers? Maybe. CIC won't say. But probably a B1/B2 is not a big deal.

Regarding interview, every citizenship applicant has an interview. It follows the test (for those who are between the ages of 18-54).

 

[Alex_78]

Hello eileenf

Thank you for the response. I have tried to find the entry record from the link you provided earlier. It says no record was found. So I will take a screen shot of this and send it along with my application.

Thank you for taking the time to answer to my queries.