Police report requirements?

[dobes]

Does anyone know, from CIC's mouth, if we really have to collect police reports from every country we've lived in EVERY 3 MONTHS while we wait in line on EE? Both countries I've lived in (the US and Slovakia) take 4-5 months to deliver the report, which means I should apply for a new one even before I get the current one! I also have to apply for the Slovak one through the Slovak Embassy in Canada, as I can't get it mailed directly from Slovakia, and they are going to get more than a little annoyed at multiple requests!

I have 466 points, and so hope for an ITA soon. But my partner got his Slovak police certificate on a visit home for Christmas, so it's expired already, and mine will expire in 2 weeks. Meanwhile, I've been waiting since late December for my FBI one, which has yet to arrive....

I am hoping that CIC will accept them if they were obtained within 90 days of being accepted to EE, or, alternatively, that when you get an ITA and turn in your documents, they will give you more than the 60 days for the police report, and let you turn it in during the 6-month processing window before getting PR.

I don't really want speculation or assumptions on this -- has anyone asked CIC directly?

 

[forever21]

Once you submit the application your Police Certificates on file are valid for 12 months

 

[gecordon]

Once you submit the application your Police Certificates on file are valid for 12 months

That´s expected. Once you submit your application they cannot tell you to change them.

The real problem is that they want them 3 monts recently issued.

I have mine issued in Honduras and Guatemala, and they are 6 months valid per police organizations, but I will have to get them again when I get ITA :'(

 

[forever21]

yup, I had to get new ones as well.

 

[dobes]

Well, that's the problem. If I try to keep them current BEFORE getting ITA, so that I can submit valid ones with my application, I will be driving the FBI and Slovak police crazy with new requests every 3 months. If I wait until getting an ITA and then apply for fresh ones, it will take 4-5 months before I can deliver them to CIC.

What's the solution?

It used to make sense, because you knew when, for instance, you would have a year of Canadian experience, and you would gather your documents to be ready to go on the day you intended to send in your application. Now, you truly don't know when you will be invited to apply - and the 60-day window for applying is shorter than the time needed to get police reports from the countries I need them from.

 

[the_lion]

As part of a complete application, applicants, their spouse or common-law partner and their dependent children 18 years of age or older (including non-accompanying dependants) must submit a valid PC for all countries or territories (except Canada) in which they have lived consecutively for six months or more, since the age of 18.

Note: This includes the requirement to provide a PC for countries in which the individual has traveled for six months or more, whether or not the individual had an established residential address during this time.
The CIC website provides instructions to applicants on how they can obtain a PC.

PCs are typically valid for one year from the date they are issued; however, PCs should be issued no more than three months prior to when they are provided to CIC as part of the e-APR.

The personalized document checklist provided to applicants in their MyCIC account does not prompt applicants for individual PCs based on their declared residence and travel history; rather, applicants must determine which PCs are required as part of their application and must compile the PCs into a single file, to upload as a single supporting document.

Exceptional circumstances

Some countries require that the applicant complete a consent form to initiate a PC. For example, an applicant from New Zealand must download and complete the Consent to Disclosure of Information (NZ) form available on the CIC website. The form is then uploaded (with any other PCs the applicant may provide) as part of the e-APR. If the application is not rejected as incomplete, the processing office will assess the consent form and electronic file and initiate the PC.

The CIC website provides country-specific instructions on what documentation must be provided to that country’s policing agency in order for them to initiate the request for a PC.

Applications that do not include a required PC and do not provide supporting documentation, where required, should be rejected as incomplete.

The officer’s discretion may be required in assessing whether PCs that do not fall within standard CIC parameters may still be required to process the application. For instance, the war in Syria has made it extremely difficult for former residents to obtain a PC; officers may need to use discretion on how to best fulfill this admissibility requirement.

Some countries will not issue PCs to applicants, and instead will only communicate directly with the relevant Canadian authorities. In such cases, existing CIC procedures to obtain documentation should be followed.

In exceptional circumstances, some applicants may experience delays in obtaining PCs within the 60-calendar-day timeframe allocated to submit a complete e-APR. In such situations, applicants should submit a letter of explanation as part of their application and include proof of having requested a PC (e.g., a copy of the receipt obtained when they requested the PC from the prescribed authority). The officer’s discretion may be required in assessing whether PCs that do not fall within these time limits are valid and reliable for the purpose of evaluating admissibility.

Reference :
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/perm/express/intake-complete.asp

 

[dobes]

Thanks, the_lion --

It's clear that they need the police certificates to be less than 90 days old at the time of application, which is what I was afraid of. That was fine in the old days, when you planned the day you would apply for PR, but it doesn't work under this system for anyone whose country will take more than 60 days to supply the clearance.

Since my new certificates, obtained in December, are already invalid, I wonder if it's best to apply for new ones now, which might again become invalid before I get an ITA, or wait for the ITA and send the expired ones with a photocopy of applications for new ones submitted on the date of the ITA with the otherwise completed application.

I don't really want to risk annoying the Slovak embassy staff by requesting new certificates - which they have to send to Slovakia for - every 90 days. And of course, then I have to get the new certificates translated -- what a headache!

 

[the_lion]

and its a lot of money!

i would rather suggest to wait until the score comes down enough to touch your CRS. and when you're sure that you might be selected in the next draw, then apply for PCC's and hope for the best !
translation takes no time at all! so, I wouldn't get the translations done right away!

 

[dobes]

Yeah - at 466 and qualified for both FSW and CEC, I'm afraid we're pretty close to 'touching'! The thing is, of course, that you never know, and new PCs we apply for today could become invalid before we actually receive an invitation.

I think they didn't really think through a lot of things like this before jumping into the new system.