USA Police Clearance

[mcrystald]

Hello!

I am currently awaiting to see if I will get chosen from the Express Entry pool (fingers crossed).

I was told that I will require the US police clearance since I spent over 6 months in the country since 18. I did my Bachelors in the US.

So I understand that I will require FBI clearance, but will I also need to get a State Clearance done?

This is what is confusing me, doesn't the State fall under the FBI so I shouldn't need do do it.

Or it doesn't matter and I will have to go ahead and get both federal and State clearances done??

Any advise is appreciated.

Thank you..

 

[sachinsoman1988]

You only need FBI clearance. Also, the clearance needs to be directly from FBI..FBI clearance from 3rd party Channelers are not accepted by CIC.

 

[mcrystald]

I have seen a few websites half that say I need both, and the other half say I just need FBI.

I talked to a few lawyers here and they gave me different answers too.

Has anyone out there required to get USA police clearance and they didnt need the state.

Or does it work on a case by case basis?

 

[StingerDL]

I had to provide a US Clearance. They only required the FBI one.

 

[mcrystald]

Thanks for the response.

Do you know for how long FBI police clearance is valid?

The processing time has decreased by a week I noticed on their website.

 

[jairichi]

Thanks for the response.

Do you know for how long FBI police clearance is valid?

The processing time has decreased by a week I noticed on their website.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/intro.asp
For the country you currently live in, the police certificate must be issued no more than six months before you apply.

For countries where you have lived for six months or more, the police certificate must be issued after the last time you lived in that country.

 

[mcrystald]

I do understand that, but i need to know how long it is valid.

Say i get it in August, when does it expire? in 6 months? 3 months? 1 year?

 

[jes_ON]

So I understand that I will require FBI clearance, but will I also need to get a State Clearance done?

This is what is confusing me, doesn't the State fall under the FBI so I shouldn't need do do it.

Or it doesn't matter and I will have to go ahead and get both federal and State clearances done??

For the USA, the current requirement is to get the FBI certificate only. Old requirements were to also get the state clearances (I had to get 7 + the FBI !!!). But that changed several years ago already.

That being said, there remain a few states that do not report to the FBI (I don't know which ones, just that there are some laggards). It is POSSIBLE that IRCC requests the state certificate at a later date, but you don't need to provide it with your application. Unfortunately, that could cause a delay if it does happen, while IRCC waits for you to produce the state cert.

If it were me, and I were certain that I had lived in one of those non-reporting states, I would go ahead and get the state PCC too. It may not be necessary, but it's a relatively small thing to cover your bases.

 

[jes_ON]

I do understand that, but i need to know how long it is valid.

Say i get it in August, when does it expire? in 6 months? 3 months? 1 year?

LOL, did you READ what jairichi posted - copied from the IRCC website?

IRCC gets to make its own rules. If you are no longer a resident of the USA, then any PCC you obtain now is valid indefinitely.

 

[mcrystald]

Hi all,

another follow up to my previous inquiry,

Can i travel to the US again? or if i travel there again will i have to get the clearance update?

How does it work?

 

[mamaJM]

Hi all,

another follow up to my previous inquiry,

Can i travel to the US again? or if i travel there again will i have to get the clearance update?

How does it work?

Yep, you will need a new one unfortunately! That is what I am dealing with at the moment, my spouse went for a 2 weeks visit, during which he received the FBI we applied for. They are asking for an updated one. The report takes about 14 weeks, so you can plan your travel way before it is processed or if you can postpone your trip till your application is safe.

 

[mgnlky]

You only need FBI clearance. Also, the clearance needs to be directly from FBI..FBI clearance from 3rd party Channelers are not accepted by CIC.

Quick question on this. The CIC website states that for US Citizens and Perm Residences, 3rd party channelers can be used. Has anyone in one of these 2 categories tried using one and had any issues?

 

[Musikwala]

IRCC gets to make its own rules. If you are no longer a resident of the USA, then any PCC you obtain now is valid indefinitely.

Are you sure about that? I left the US in 2009 and had to get several FBI PCCs in 2011, 2014 and 2015 for different purposes. 2011 was for renewing my then expiring South African work permit. 2014 was for applying to the FSW program that year. 2015 was for EE which is in process currently. The date on the latest one from 2015 is July. And it's almost going to be July 2016 soon. Do I need to get a new one?? Or can I use any of the previous ones that I still have the hard copy for?... because it's been 7 years since I left the US.

 

[jairichi]

Are you sure about that? I left the US in 2009 and had to get several FBI PCCs in 2011, 2014 and 2015 for different purposes. 2011 was for renewing my then expiring South African work permit. 2014 was for applying to the FSW program that year. 2015 was for EE which is in process currently. The date on the latest one from 2015 is July. And it's almost going to be July 2016 soon. Do I need to get a new one?? Or can I use any of the previous ones that I still have the hard copy for?... because it's been 7 years since I left the US.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/intro.asp
For countries where you have lived for six months or more, the police certificate must be issued after the last time you lived in that country.

 

[Musikwala]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/intro.asp
For countries where you have lived for six months or more, the police certificate must be issued after the last time you lived in that country.

Yeah I read through that link. Was just wondering if that means the PCC is valid indefinitely if you never visit the country again.