Wait to send PR app WITH FBI police certif? Or send app w proof req is made?

[4maple-1eagle]

I seem to be seeing two camps, one which says don't even bother sending in the P.R. application until you can include the Police Letter/Certificate one gets from the FBI. If you do send in the PR app, this came says to me, CIC will just send it back to you.

However, on http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/north-america/united-states.asp, it says "You should send the letter and any attached documents to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada office processing your file." This seems to suggest that I could send in my PR application now (knowing it takes 6-12mo, on average) to process. Then when I receive my police letter / certificate from the FBI in 14--18 weeks, I can just foward it along at the time.

Any thoughts / advice ?

 

[Love_Young]

Firstly, it does not take 14-16 weeks to get an FBI clearance back.

Secondly, yes you could send proof of having requested the clearance with the application along with a letter stating that you will send it ASAP when you do get it. However, this is not recommended as when they request a document from you, it can add a delay to the application when if could have been avoided if you had just wanted to send it all in together. Also, you would have to wait to send the clearance to them until you obtain your file number from them or they request them, otherwise it is at risk of getting lost and not being attached to your file, causing further delays to your processing.

Thirdly, my advice would be to wait. You get no advantage out of sending it without the clearance and they won't process it any faster. They need all the documents anyway to process it. So I would wait, send it all together the right way instead of complicating the situation and causing unnecessary delays to your application. Don't send it until you have everything. You'll thank me later.

 

[4maple-1eagle]

Thanks for the advice. But if Canada takes 6-12 mo to process it, (and it actually says on their website, send the police certif when you get it, to the centre that is processing your app) I was hoping I could save a few months, while its just sitting in their queue. My assumption was that if they need 6-12 mo to process the app, they are probably not even opening it (just a timestamp?) and it sits in on the desk while they tackle the ones that were received 5 mo from today.

Anybody know anything about their actual protocol?

 

[CharlieD10]

Take Love_Young's word for it. You wanna send in the FBI cert with the application. When you send in a completed application, there is less for them to ask you for when processing begins, and it means there is no need to request something that is vital to the application (police clearance) and put your file down, wait for you to send it, get it, find the right file because they have put others on top of it while they waited for you to get it to them, and then continue with your processing.

Make it easy for them to process your file, send them everything they need that you are supposed to provide them with, right upfront.

Processing a case such as yours (family, spouses married several years) will be relatively straightforward, don't shoot yourself in the foot by causing an unnecessary delay or give Murphy's Law a chance to swat you upside the head.

FBI reports are taking as little as 5-7 weeks (I got mine in 7 weeks, including 6 days in the mail to my husband in Canada from WVA).

 

[4maple-1eagle]

Thanks Chaz. Okay, I'm convinced. I'll wait for the FBI letter.

Cheers