Hi again CanadaCanada, no luck from the Chicago consulate? Did they send you a letter when they returned your application? (KEEP THAT as proof of effort).
I know how hard it is to "prove" you lived somewhere after so many years - no bank account records, tax receipts, written lease/tenancy agreements, etc? (Who keeps such things, esp. after moving overseas?) No chance of getting another letter from your former employer? A neighbor attesting that you lived there? Nothing?
Might not matter even if you did. Right now, I'm having trouble with Bangladesh, purportedly because the office where I worked 14 years ago moved into a different precinct after I left. Why that matters, who knows.
My 120 days will end without me being able to get a PCC from 2 countries. (Haven't stopped trying for B'desh, but I do not think it will happen).
I was advised by a call center agent to DOCUMENT all my efforts to obtain a PCC. Received a hint from a consular agent (not Canada) that a STATUTORY DECLARATION might be accepted if you have tried everything (and can prove it) but still cannot get the PCC. I have not found this info anywhere in CIC instructions, so there's no proof that this will work. But what else can you do?
So - I am making a "Declaration of No Criminal Record in Bangladesh" for which prepared a written record of exactly what I did to get the PCC (with dates, names, etc.), and have attached copies of all correspondence. In the sworn statement, I say where I lived and when; what I was doing there; what I have done to get the PCC (following CIC instructions), and why that has not worked; then (on a separate page) the sworn statement:
"I attest that I _______NAME____ was not involved in any illegal activity in PLACE. I further swear that I was never arrested nor convicted of any criminal act in _________. "
I have not done this yet but I will take it to a Commissioner of Oaths - in Illinois, that would be a Notary Public - perhaps you can get some advice from one on the words to use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_declarationOn this page, you can click on a link to a form that's used for a statutory declaration from BC
http://www.hsd.gov.bc.ca/lclb/LLinBC/criminal_record_search.htm-of course you would have to adapt it to your situation and make sure that it's acceptable in the state where you get it notarized or witnessed (you may need to go to a justice of the peace at a county court, but ask a notary public first).
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