Travel History - Perplexing Situation

[walkinthe_woods]

I am an Indian national, but I had a valid Kuwaiti Residence Permit from birth to the age of 22. For the last 4 years of this period (2006-2010), I attended university in India. I used to travel back home to Kuwait for every vacation I had, spending at the most 40 days in a row there, before I returned to India. So, in the years 2008-10, the majority of my time was spent in India, and I spent a maximum of 8 months in Kuwait, calculated cumulatively. Obviously, my passport was stamped every time I left or entered either country (43 times in 2008-10).

Do I consider my "base country" as India or Kuwait? That is, to answer the question "Has X taken any trips outside their country of origin or of residence in the last ten years?", which of the following scenarios do I follow?

i) Travel outside country of origin (India) - list trips OUT of India TO Kuwait. So, my travel history will contain several short trips to Kuwait.
ii) Travel outside country of residence (Kuwait) - list trips OUT of Kuwait TO India. So, my travel history will contain several long trips to India.
iii) Leave out these trips altogether - since they were either to my country of residence or my country of origin, and the form asks for trips OUTSIDE them.

In any of these cases, I don't think I'll be required to upload a PCC for Kuwait, will I?

Thank you for taking the time to read my question, and I'll be grateful for any advice you may have for me

 

[navinball]

You are not required to provide kuwaiti pcc as your stay was never 6 month continuous. But the officer may ask for pcc later on if you take several trips. So be prepared with the pcc.

 

[cansha]

Option iii.

And I think you should have Kuwait pcc ready. With so many trips you’ll be asked to provide pcc most likely. Better to be prepared.

 

[adilkhan31]

I am an Indian national, but I had a valid Kuwaiti Residence Permit from birth to the age of 22. For the last 4 years of this period (2006-2010), I attended university in India. I used to travel back home to Kuwait for every vacation I had, spending at the most 40 days in a row there, before I returned to India. So, in the years 2008-10, the majority of my time was spent in India, and I spent a maximum of 8 months in Kuwait, calculated cumulatively. Obviously, my passport was stamped every time I left or entered either country (43 times in 2008-10).

Do I consider my "base country" as India or Kuwait? That is, to answer the question "Has X taken any trips outside their country of origin or of residence in the last ten years?", which of the following scenarios do I follow?

i) Travel outside country of origin (India) - list trips OUT of India TO Kuwait. So, my travel history will contain several short trips to Kuwait.
ii) Travel outside country of residence (Kuwait) - list trips OUT of Kuwait TO India. So, my travel history will contain several long trips to India.
iii) Leave out these trips altogether - since they were either to my country of residence or my country of origin, and the form asks for trips OUTSIDE them.

In any of these cases, I don't think I'll be required to upload a PCC for Kuwait, will I?

Thank you for taking the time to read my question, and I'll be grateful for any advice you may have for me

My wife had a similar case when I applied for PR in 2016. As soon as my wife left Kuwait to study in India (all along she had a valid Kuwait residence), her country of residence became India. You should list trips to Kuwait while you were studying in India as vacation trips to visit parents and or friends. General thumb rule is, account for all the stamps on your passport. And 6 months rule means that if all your trips add up to a total of 6 months or more, you need a PCC. I made a total of 24 trips to Kuwait which were adding up to 130 days of stay, so I was not required to produce a PCC. Hope this helps.

 

[walkinthe_woods]

Thank you everyone for your replies! Really appreciate it.

@adilkhan31 - Great to know I'm not the only one in this frustrating situation! Did your wife get her Kuwaiti PCC? How was her experience? In my case, Kuwait PCC isn't compulsory since the IRCC rule change for PCC requirement (I hope I've correctly comprehended the link!)

@cansha and @navinball - I wanted to be prepared with the PCC, but according to the instructions for Kuwait PCC as follows:

Do I need to provide a Police Certificate with my Application for Permanent Residence? No

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will send you a letter requesting a police certificate after you send your Application for Permanent Residence. You must bring that letter when you apply for a Police Certificate.

Name of document(s) to get: Good Conduct Certificate

I can apply for it only after I submit my eAPR!! How can I solve this problem?

This is doing my head in because I no longer live in Kuwait and neither do my parents so procuring a PCC in limited time is going to be a right pain!!

 

[cansha]

Thank you everyone for your replies! Really appreciate it.

@adilkhan31 - Great to know I'm not the only one in this frustrating situation! Did your wife get her Kuwaiti PCC? How was her experience? In my case, Kuwait PCC isn't compulsory since the IRCC rule change for PCC requirement (I hope I've correctly comprehended the link!)

@cansha and @navinball - I wanted to be prepared with the PCC, but according to the instructions for Kuwait PCC as follows:

Do I need to provide a Police Certificate with my Application for Permanent Residence? No

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will send you a letter requesting a police certificate after you send your Application for Permanent Residence. You must bring that letter when you apply for a Police Certificate.

Name of document(s) to get: Good Conduct Certificate

I can apply for it only after I submit my eAPR!! How can I solve this problem?

This is doing my head in because I no longer live in Kuwait and neither do my parents so procuring a PCC in limited time is going to be a right pain!!

My guess is if you need ircc letter to apply for pcc in Kuwait you shouldn't worry. Let ircc decide in the first place. Also, if their letter is needed I'm sure they will give you the time required .go ahead and submit your application.

 

[adilkhan31]

Thank you everyone for your replies! Really appreciate it.

@adilkhan31 - Great to know I'm not the only one in this frustrating situation! Did your wife get her Kuwaiti PCC? How was her experience? In my case, Kuwait PCC isn't compulsory since the IRCC rule change for PCC requirement (I hope I've correctly comprehended the link!)

@cansha and @navinball - I wanted to be prepared with the PCC, but according to the instructions for Kuwait PCC as follows:

Do I need to provide a Police Certificate with my Application for Permanent Residence? No

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will send you a letter requesting a police certificate after you send your Application for Permanent Residence. You must bring that letter when you apply for a Police Certificate.

Name of document(s) to get: Good Conduct Certificate

I can apply for it only after I submit my eAPR!! How can I solve this problem?

This is doing my head in because I no longer live in Kuwait and neither do my parents so procuring a PCC in limited time is going to be a right pain!!

Hi,
Yes, my wife had to go through the process of applying for Kuwait PCC while both of us were not in Kuwait at the time. Thankfully my wife's family was still there to do the running around. It was a painful experience. If I remember correctly, the authorities asked for the letter from CIC requesting PCC, my wife's passport and Kuwait ID. Of course being Kuwait, nothing ever is straightforward. At some point we were asked to get the old passport on which the visa was stamped and the applicant to be physically present in Kuwait. It helps if you go with someone who speaks the language and has a high level of tolerance for BS. With the new rules in place, hopefully you wont have to go through this. Best of luck.

 

[farazafzal]

I am an Indian national, but I had a valid Kuwaiti Residence Permit from birth to the age of 22. For the last 4 years of this period (2006-2010), I attended university in India. I used to travel back home to Kuwait for every vacation I had, spending at the most 40 days in a row there, before I returned to India. So, in the years 2008-10, the majority of my time was spent in India, and I spent a maximum of 8 months in Kuwait, calculated cumulatively. Obviously, my passport was stamped every time I left or entered either country (43 times in 2008-10).

Do I consider my "base country" as India or Kuwait? That is, to answer the question "Has X taken any trips outside their country of origin or of residence in the last ten years?", which of the following scenarios do I follow?

i) Travel outside country of origin (India) - list trips OUT of India TO Kuwait. So, my travel history will contain several short trips to Kuwait.
ii) Travel outside country of residence (Kuwait) - list trips OUT of Kuwait TO India. So, my travel history will contain several long trips to India.
iii) Leave out these trips altogether - since they were either to my country of residence or my country of origin, and the form asks for trips OUTSIDE them.

In any of these cases, I don't think I'll be required to upload a PCC for Kuwait, will I?

Thank you for taking the time to read my question, and I'll be grateful for any advice you may have for me

There is no need to confuse yourself. No one is going to reject your application based on the trips you list. They can however, reject if you fail to enlist the trips that you have taken.
Two answers to clarify two confusions:

1. You don't need PCC. In case Immigration officer is interested, he/she is going to send you the instructions document for Q8 Police, while giving you a lot of time to secure it. There is no need to worry about this, as the ball is not in your court. This confusion should be gone by now.

2. Q8 can not be considered as your country of residence, as you were residing in your country of Origin during all these 4 years. You have used Residence visa much like a short term visit visa to visit your family. I will list all short trips from India to Kuwait. Does not matter, how many more rows it require. You should fill all the trips...
Example:
--- 1june 2009 - 28 june 2009 India to q8 - 40 days - visiting parents
--- 13june 2010 - 07 July 2010 India to q8 - 40 days - visiting parents

Good luck

 

[walkinthe_woods]

@cansha @farazafzal : thanks for reassuring me, I'm just going to submit my application and hope for the best!

@adilkhan31 : You've confirmed my worst fears Unfortunately, my parents have moved out and so have my friends, I don't remember where I've kept my Kuwait ID, and entering Kuwait is next to impossible as an Indian tourist! I know just one person who still lives in Kuwait and can speak Arabic, but this would be too much to ask given the BS you warned me about. Thanks for sharing your experience; I'll
keep my fingers crossed that I won't need to get a PCC.