My wife's case is in process since Sep 14. Last week we received note from the Consulate to get Police Clearance from a couple of states where we lived. Is this something they just randomly send out?
I noticed in one another forum that applicants' whose file was started after ours are receiving passport request..
Any advise appreciated.
I don't know how it is for Americans, but I got police clearances from the countries where I lived.
I suppose that it takes faster to get a PR if you have paid all fees in the beginning, all your documents are correct and they don't need to ask you for extra proof of relationship, signatures etc.
Hi Outland from U.S.
Our app went to Mississauga then on to Buffalo and they sent us a letter wanting police clearances from 2 states and wanted the actual arrest records and the state of illinois only allows you to view arrest records they won't send them out. Obviously they are seeing something on their computers to do with my husband but won't tell him what it is so he is frantically running around trying to obtain records.
Immigration can pretty much do whatever they want to and one never knows until they request the info. Some states you can request police clearances on line check out each states website to get the info.
Good Luck
Bunny
I do believe that the time to process an application depends on many different factors such as the order when CIC recieves the app, country of origin, criminal history, previous marriages, child custody issues, military experience, extensive backround checks, incomplete or missing documents,fees paid, etc. Please don't get discouraged if you see someone elses application go through the PR process faster then your own. It might just mean their application was straight forward and simple to process.
Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate your time.
It was only last month that they changed the requirements relative to U.S. States. Prior to that, applicants were required to submit state specific police certificates from all states where they lived six months or more. In the last month they changed it to they "may request" state specific certificates. But for any app in process by mid-September, obviously it was submitted during that period when the applicant was supposed to submit the state specific cert from every state in which the applicant lived. So that was an oversight, and unfortunately it will result in some delay . . . how long will depend, in the first instance, in how soon the applicant sent in the state specific certificates.
As for who will be asked to submit state specific certs under the current policy (which could change at anytime . . . this is something CIC has flip-flopped about, going back and forth a few times), they do not say exactly, but there are probably a number of triggers which would initiate the request. Probably not random. But it could be something as simple as there being someone with a similar name and DOB with a criminal record, so they want to clarify and be sure.
Hi
dpenabill Wrote:It was only last month that they changed the requirements relative to U.S. States. Prior to that, applicants were required to submit state specific police certificates from all states where they lived six months or more. In the last month they changed it to they "may request" state specific certificates. But for any app in process by mid-September, obviously it was submitted during that period when the applicant was supposed to submit the state specific cert from every state in which the applicant lived. So that was an oversight, and unfortunately it will result in some delay . . . how long will depend, in the first instance, in how soon the applicant sent in the state specific certificates.
As for who will be asked to submit state specific certs under the current policy (which could change at anytime . . . this is something CIC has flip-flopped about, going back and forth a few times), they do not say exactly, but there are probably a number of triggers which would initiate the request. Probably not random. But it could be something as simple as there being someone with a similar name and DOB with a criminal record, so they want to clarify and be sure.
A number of states don't imput some charges that are misdemeanors in the state, such as impaired driving, in the NCIC .
PMM
Looks like it sure was an oversight on my part. However for some reason I thought I only had to submit FBI clearance from US and not from every state I lived. But thanks guess I will have to pay for this oversight...
Quote:
A number of states don't imput some charges that are misdemeanors in the state, such as impaired driving, in the NCIC .
PMM
The basic NCIC information is arrest and disposition information; no arrest, no NCIC report. And indeed, in most States there are minor misdemeanors which will be processed by way of a summons or citation, not an arrest. These will not show in NCIC -- unless in the judicial process the person is referred for a "booking" or some comparable procedure, or if it results in a dispostion which gets docked into the system -- and this is true for a wide range of misdemeanors (speeding is a misdemeanor in some states for example, but it is handled like an infraction is in many other states).
However, I am not aware of any State which does not generally comply with the mandate to report driving while impaired (or comparable) arrests into the system. That is not to say that all jurisdictions are diligent in complying with the criteria specified, especially some small town jurisdictions in a few states, but I believe that all the U.S. states are now part of the system which includes reporting driving while impaired arrests.
(Probably some historical gaps, but none all that recently.)
In the meantime it is possible that there are certain states for which they will still always ask for state specific certs, but I have seen no reports of this and have no idea which states that might be, if any.
Again, there are probably a number of triggers (one is required to reveal all criminal proceedings, and that I suspect will trigger the state specific request for example) which would initiate the request. Probably is not random. And I doubt (but do not totally discount) that having lived in any particular state will trigger state specific requests.