How to calculate the 6 months needed to live abroad for police certificate

[alasken]

I'm uncertain whether or not I need to get a police certificate from France. I'd rather not, just because of the hassle it involves and the time I'll have to wait for it when I know it will come out ok. So here is my situation:

I am from Norway and did an exchange semester at a French university in 2008. I left Norway for Paris in the end of December 2007, I think it was December 29. I then travelled to Lyon after New Year's celebration in Paris and found an apartment there in the first half of January (Im not sure about the exact date, but somewhere around January 10). I moved back to Norway on May 30 the same year. I went back to Norway one or two times on holiday, totalling probably around a week in the period that I lived in France. Will I have to get a police certificate from France? Can I argue that I did not really move there until I settled in Lyon, or does my holiday in Paris count towards living there as I went directly to Lyon afterwards where I lived until May 30? If so, I guess I can write in my personal history that I moved to France in January and back to Norway in May, so that I dont exceed the 6 months of living there which causes me to need a police certificate?

Thanks for any help.

PS, I havent done anything wrong in France and the clearance would come out fine. I just dont want to deal with it and want to get my application in asap.

[Baloo]

I have not calculated your dates - you have said you are unsure of the dates, so there is little point in me guessing.

"I just dont want to deal with it", won't help you at all.

"I guess I can write in my personal history that I moved to France in January and back to Norway in May,
so that I dont exceed the 6 months of living there which causes me to need a police certificate? "

You have to write the truth, if you are found to be misrepresenting material facts then it will cause problems.

IMO, I would get a PCC if the dates are unclear and my stay may have been six months.

Look at it this way, if you do not get the PCC and you need it, then there could be a bigger delay in your application.

[brin]

I wouldn't think it'll be so much of a hassel in getting PCC from France...my husband just got his from the UK where he was studying back in 2004 and it came within 3 weeks...I'm sure it'll be pretty much the same with France...the procediure is straight frwd...just look it up on their website!

[alasken]

Yeah thats what Im worried about too. However, consider this:

Lets say I moved to France in the end of December. Lets say December 27. Then I lived there all of January throughout and including May. That is only 5 full months + a couple of days in December. This is the worst case scenario for calculating my time there. Surely that can not fall into the category of "six consecutive months or more" as described by the CIC? It seems to me that the way that that is worded you must live there for a full 6 months and more, and you dont have to send it in if you have lived there in 6 consecutive months when you only spent a couple days of the first month there?

[alasken]

I wouldn't think it'll be so much of a hassel in getting PCC from France...my husband just got his from the UK where he was studying back in 2004 and it came within 3 weeks...I'm sure it'll be pretty much the same with France...the procediure is straight frwd...just look it up on their website!

well it took me months and months to get one from australia. the biggest problem was that they only took payments from australian banks so i had to send it to a friend there. he then proceeded to pay the wrong amount for the fee, so they sent the application in return back to me in canada. i then had to write it again, send it back to my friend and then wait for them to process and send it back. ive been through the bureaucracy in france and its mindblowing and id rather not deal with it. i started working on this application a year ago and almost everything is ready and i would be devastated if i have to deal with another 3 weeks wait for more useless info. the reason why im fretting over it right now is that im getting cold feet about ignoring the french police certificate now that my application is so close to coming together

[Baloo]

Yeah thats what Im worried about too. However, consider this:

Lets say I moved to France in the end of December. Lets say December 27. Then I lived there all of January throughout and including May. That is only 5 full months + a couple of days in December. This is the worst case scenario for calculating my time there. Surely that can not fall into the category of "six consecutive months or more" as described by the CIC? It seems to me that the way that that is worded you must live there for a full 6 months and more, and you dont have to send it in if you have lived there in 6 consecutive months when you only spent a couple days of the first month there?

It is pretty clear, if you have not lived there for six months, you don't need a PCC.
My point was, how could I guess, if you were not sure of the dates.

[Baloo]

well it took me months and months to get one from australia. the biggest problem was that they only took payments from australian banks so i had to send it to a friend there. he then proceeded to pay the wrong amount for the fee, so they sent the application in return back to me in canada. i then had to write it again, send it back to my friend and then wait for them to process and send it back. ive been through the bureaucracy in france and its mindblowing and id rather not deal with it. i started working on this application a year ago and almost everything is ready and i would be devastated if i have to deal with another 3 weeks wait for more useless info. the reason why im fretting over it right now is that im getting cold feet about ignoring the french police certificate now that my application is so close to coming together

This was more about your friend getting things wrong, not the PCC process. A very good example of lack of attention to detail.

I doubt that anyone would be "devastated" by delaying a submission three weeks if it has already taken a year, it is far better to get the application right (slowly), rather than (quickly) wrong.

Note to everyone - Attention to detail is important, if you rush an application, the chances are it will come back to haunt you.

[canadianwoman]

You didn't live in France for 6 months, so you don't need the police certificate.