police clearence for citzinship

[uncomfortable]

If your RQ/CIT0520/CIC letter is not submitted during your fingerprinting, the agent will not fill that section out with "CIC or Citizenship" but rather with "I-PR". I forgot what that stood for but I'm confident it's something along the lines of "personal request". You'll still get your certificate, but you want to be sure of 2 things: 1- that the CIC IO will accept it, and 2- that the date the background check is completed can fall after the date CIC requested it. I did exactly that despite the agent warning me about it (certificate was from greece). Where I got incredibly lucky was that they were so backlogged in greece that by the time they started processing my request I had already done my interview.

If you choose to wait for CIC to request it, send them a letter a week or two later explaining that you have made the request, with a copy of the fingerprinting receipt and the form/tracking number. They only give you 30 days to present it but it takes a little longer.

My experience is somewhat different: I went to get my fingerprints taken to obtain the US police certificate, I was asked why I was requesting it and I stated "to apply for Canadian Citizenship", and this is what was written in my fingerprints card.
Therefore what you say regarding the absence of "RQ/CIT0520/CIC letter" being a problem is unlikely to be true. Furthermore, if I know I have stayed more that 183 days in a foreign country and I know I have to submit a police certificate, I will do that together with my original application, when it is obvious that I have no letter or request of any kind from CIC because they are not psychic and do not know that I want to apply for citizenship. This makes all your points rather moot: if you include the police certificate in your original application, CIC should really accept it, unless it is deemed to be "too old", i.e. dated months in advance of the application date.

 

[uncomfortable]

If you choose to wait for CIC to request it, send them a letter a week or two later explaining that you have made the request, with a copy of the fingerprinting receipt and the form/tracking number. They only give you 30 days to present it but it takes a little longer.

The FBI website states that processing times are currently 10-12 weeks.

 

[uncomfortable]

But as I have acknowledged, sure, applicants can and many do slide by. So sure, an applicant who has spent 171 days in the UK and who has also transited an additional dozen times through Heathrow on the way to and from other destinations, could check "no" to the item about spending a total of 183 days in another country. But that would be stupid. It might slide by. Good chance it would slide by. But it would still be stupid. I could go further into the weeds explaining this, why it would be stupid, but I'll let it suffice to note that if IRCC perceives an applicant is dodging questions, deliberating avoiding the disclosure of information, things tend to go off the rails hard and fast. Check yes and submit the police certificate. Or, if it is a country for which obtaining a police certificate would be excessively difficult, check yes and explain why a certificate is not submitted. There is a box provided precisely for that purpose.

This is a very sensible approach, but as I stated several times before, the words "sensible", "reasonable" and "common sense" way too often do not find way into bureaucratic matters.

I believe there is a very strong cultural component in these matters: individuals coming from certain countries, when dealing with bureaucracy, tend to act as if they were under arrest: "everything you say can and will be used against you". In their experience, government officials are there to "screw" you if you give them the chance, therefore there may be a natural inclination not to relinquish any more information than it is strictly necessary. And the fact that many omissions tend to "slide by" probably reinforces the belief that this is the right attitude.
It is very possible that this is not the case when dealing with IRCC, but "perception is reality": if they believe this is the case, they will behave accordingly.

 

[yspylp]

Hi,
I am planning to apply for Citizenship and have evaluated my stay in Canada, as per the revised rule in past 4 years I have stayed close to 230 days in US and so I have to obtain US Police Clearance certificate. I have downloaded the form from FBI site but it asks for Social Security Number, moreover seeing the form it gives me a feeling that the form is for US resident or Citizens.
Appreciate your help if you could direct me to an appropriate site or provide me with some guidelines.

Thanks,
Sai

 

[DESIGN.IQ]

HI all

I got my police check from Turkish embassy
It's already with English script
Except the title and signature
Should I translate it?
Thanks

 

[Officer Green]

HI all

I got my police check from Turkish embassy
It's already with English script
Except the title and signature
Should I translate it?
Thanks

I would recommend to translate it even if the body of the letter is in English as it may not take several days to do that. That would clarify where it was issued from and minimize the chances of application being returned or less work/hurdle later in the local office. Even though, Turkish script are similar to English and people may understand it and signature may not matter as it will not be translatable, for peace of mind it is always better to try to be near perfect in your side.

 

[DESIGN.IQ]

I would recommend to translate it even if the body of the letter is in English as it may not take several days to do that. That would clarify where it was issued from and minimize the chances of application being returned or less work/hurdle later in the local office. Even though, Turkish script are similar to English and people may understand it and signature may not matter as it will not be translatable, for peace of mind it is always better to try to be near perfect in your side.

Thanks a lot
I will do so
Appreciated