HELP!!! Singapore COC (Certificate of Clearance)

[kelly8711]

Hi friends!!

Please liste... nope, read this!

Nothing goes easily for me. hah....

So I have contacted my high school, Canadian International School in Singapore, where I studied for my life in Singapore, for this stupid FIN a week ago and they gave it to me but only 6-digit numbers.
You all know FIN starts with a letter, followed by 7-digit numbers, and a ending letter, right?

So I asked the person who gave me FIN (she is an administrative assistance) to double check on the same day I received it, and she ignored.
I used FIN validator site to figure out what the last digit will be, and have come up with 5 plausible FINs.

Right now I have filed my appeal for COC with one of them, which I thought the most convincing one, but now I am getting anxious about being rejected with wrong FIN.

So I re-send an e-mail for that lady for a copy of my official file from the archive (which she mentioned when she gave FIN) instead.
She told me it takes 2 weeks (?????? 2 WEEKS!!) and 30 Singapore dollars.

I replied back that every second counts for me, I am in rush, so just double check FIN for me otherwise I have to visit Singapore and go to ICA directly.

What she said was, (this is the actual sentence I received) "Hi Kelly, perhaps you contact to ICA directly?"
No mention on checking FIN again. Nothing. Only that sentence.

...........................?? :O? Was it that rude to ask her double check my FIN? Was it something that I was not supposed to ask?
Oh my gosh, I am so furious and I can't sleep as I am writing this and I really want to talk to her supervisor or manager or someone in higher position!!
I have already replied her email with a bit of sarcasm and complaints and my willingness to talk to her boss but not sure if she will response.

If I get my COC appeal rejected, shall I have to go to Singapore eh?
If I book a ticket to Singapore, arrive there, I will go and smack her first.


Thank you for reading guys,

I wanted to share this with someone but do not know who I should do so. lol

 

[canada_eagle]

Hi friends!!

Please liste... nope, read this!

Nothing goes easily for me. hah....

So I have contacted my high school, Canadian International School in Singapore, where I studied for my life in Singapore, for this stupid FIN a week ago and they gave it to me but only 6-digit numbers.
You all know FIN starts with a letter, followed by 7-digit numbers, and a ending letter, right?

So I asked the person who gave me FIN (she is an administrative assistance) to double check on the same day I received it, and she ignored.
I used FIN validator site to figure out what the last digit will be, and have come up with 5 plausible FINs.

Right now I have filed my appeal for COC with one of them, which I thought the most convincing one, but now I am getting anxious about being rejected with wrong FIN.

So I re-send an e-mail for that lady for a copy of my official file from the archive (which she mentioned when she gave FIN) instead.
She told me it takes 2 weeks (?????? 2 WEEKS!!) and 30 Singapore dollars.

I replied back that every second counts for me, I am in rush, so just double check FIN for me otherwise I have to visit Singapore and go to ICA directly.

What she said was, (this is the actual sentence I received) "Hi Kelly, perhaps you contact to ICA directly?"
No mention on checking FIN again. Nothing. Only that sentence.

...........................?? :O? Was it that rude to ask her double check my FIN? Was it something that I was not supposed to ask?
Oh my gosh, I am so furious and I can't sleep as I am writing this and I really want to talk to her supervisor or manager or someone in higher position!!
I have already replied her email with a bit of sarcasm and complaints and my willingness to talk to her boss but not sure if she will response.

If I get my COC appeal rejected, shall I have to go to Singapore eh?
If I book a ticket to Singapore, arrive there, I will go and smack her first.


Thank you for reading guys,

I wanted to share this with someone but do not know who I should do so. lol

If you do need to go to Singapore, you should call Singapore police and see if they will either let you drop off your fingerprints with your appeal or take it for you. They also say they will do urgent processing on a case by case basis, so you should see if they will do that for you if you are running out of time.

 

[lcuong130487]

Hi kelly8711
I have the same problem with you and I plan come to Singapore in next week to get the FIN number.
ICA said that they unable to reveal FIN number even I come in person to request
Did you get the COC now and please share your step to get it?

 

[kelly8711]

Hi kelly8711
I have the same problem with you and I plan come to Singapore in next week to get the FIN number.
ICA said that they unable to reveal FIN number even I come in person to request
Did you get the COC now and please share your step to get it?

Hello

Yes I did receive my COC finally on Aug. 27. It took around 5 business days to get my appeal approved and then a couple of days later I got finger print request. I had to send my physical finger print and it took a week. After another 10 business days my COC got issued. It nearly took a month so you should be prepared....

I have set my friend as a proxy so she picked up the COC and scanned for me. I then submitted it to CIC immediately. Then she sent the document via Sing post


Hope it helped!

 

[SGtoCAD]

I am on the same boat. My husband lived in Singapore in 2005 and has no record of his FIN. I wrote a LOE explaining the situation and added the following documents (almost a 30-page document):
1. Proof of communications with SPF stating that without FIN it's impossible to get a COC
2. Proof of communication with the university he attended showing they have no record of his FIN
3. Proof of communication with the entity that issues the FIN (I don't recall the name) saying that they can't disclose information like that
4. Copy of his old passport with the Singaporean stamp without the FIN

We asked on the LOE to be excused from providing this PCC.

So far we have cleared medicals and no request has been made for this PCC.

In parallel, we are contacting law firms to see if an attorney could help, but answers have been negative so far. If it comes down to CIC still demanding the COC, I think a trip to Singapore will be needed.

Have you checked with ICA?? i am in a similar situation and i managed to get a COC without any issue. I kept the in-principle approval letter issued from ICA at that time. and even if its student pass, work permit etc... there will always be a FIN no on it. when the pass expires, the pass is returned back to ICA.
FIN no usually starts with a G or an X..

 

[lcuong130487]

Hello

Yes I did receive my COC finally on Aug. 27. It took around 5 business days to get my appeal approved and then a couple of days later I got finger print request. I had to send my physical finger print and it took a week. After another 10 business days my COC got issued. It nearly took a month so you should be prepared....

I have set my friend as a proxy so she picked up the COC and scanned for me. I then submitted it to CIC immediately. Then she sent the document via Sing post


Hope it helped!

Hi Kelly
I mean how can you apply COC without FIN number. Did you get the FIN number when you came to ICA?

 

[alzs-]

Have you checked with ICA?? i am in a similar situation and i managed to get a COC without any issue. I kept the in-principle approval letter issued from ICA at that time. and even if its student pass, work permit etc... there will always be a FIN no on it. when the pass expires, the pass is returned back to ICA.
FIN no usually starts with a G or an X..

He had no documentation left with the FIN.

The solution in the end was that he had to fly to Singapore, go several times to ICA and SPF. In the end he managed to get the COC with SPF's help. ICA refused to release his number, even with him there personally. According to a local lawyer my husband went to, there are now some strict data protection laws that give ICA the power not to disclose this type of info. He said that not even with legal action we could force ICA to reveal it.

 

[SGtoCAD]

He had no documentation left with the FIN.

The solution in the end was that he had to fly to Singapore, go several times to ICA and SPF. In the end he managed to get the COC with SPF's help. ICA refused to release his number, even with him there personally. According to a local lawyer my husband went to, there are now some strict data protection laws that give ICA the power not to disclose this type of info. He said that not even with legal action we could force ICA to reveal it.

Glad to hear that you had a positive outcome despite all the barriers. ICA's work protocols can be a pain in the butt

 

[lcuong130487]

He had no documentation left with the FIN.

The solution in the end was that he had to fly to Singapore, go several times to ICA and SPF. In the end he managed to get the COC with SPF's help. ICA refused to release his number, even with him there personally. According to a local lawyer my husband went to, there are now some strict data protection laws that give ICA the power not to disclose this type of info. He said that not even with legal action we could force ICA to reveal it.

Hi Alzs
I were the person who asked in https://forum.singaporeexpats.com/viewtopic.php?t=116022 , But am wonder if Kelly had the same solution with you , mean she went to SPF fill to the form without FIN number , after few day, the FIN number appear in the paper form .

 

[kelly8711]

Hi Alzs
I were the person who asked in https://forum.singaporeexpats.com/viewtopic.php?t=116022 , But am wonder if Kelly had the same solution with you , mean she went to SPF fill to the form without FIN number , after few day, the FIN number appear in the paper form .

Hi lcuong130487,


Sorry for late response,

Well I was able to reveal my FIN via school. Fortunately they have kept all student's information in their storage.
As you may know COC application will not go through without FIN.
If you are not able to locate your FIN, try to contact your school or workplace.

Hope you find your FIN too!

 

[kelly8711]

Hello everyone,


I would like to thank you all for sharing concerns, advice, and everything with me.

Singapore COC had been a real pain to me for my CEC application but at the end I was able to get over this matter


Yes I managed to get COC successfully as well as my PR!
I just received "Ready for Visa" letter, requesting photocopies of my passport and photos.
I was expecting to get this e-mail in mid Oct. or early Nov., so it was very exciting that I almost had heart attack. lol
All the documents are sent, and I look forward to get my CoPR in 2-3 weeks from now on.


I will share my timeline with you;


May 10, 2017 - AOR received (Express Entry: CEC Inland)
July 21, 2017 - Singapore COC request from CIC
July 22, 2017 - Medical exam passed
Aug. 02, 2017 - Singapore COC Appeal Application submitted
Aug. 08, 2017 - Singapore COC Appeal approved
Aug. 08, 2017 - Singapore COC Application submitted
Aug. 10, 2017 - Singapore COC Application accepted
Aug. 11, 2017 - Fingerprints sent to Singapore Police Force
Aug. 25, 2017 - Singapore COC APPROVED
Aug. 26, 2017 - Singapore COC uploaded to CIC
Sept. 13, 2017 - EE application status - "We are reviewing additional documents you provided"
Sept. 14, 2017 - EE application status updated - "We do not need additional documents - something like this"
Sept. 15, 2017 - 'Ready for Visa' e-mail received ; passport copy and photo requested

 

[alzs-]

Hello everyone,


I would like to thank you all for sharing concerns, advice, and everything with me.

Singapore COC had been a real pain to me for my CEC application but at the end I was able to get over this matter


Yes I managed to get COC successfully as well as my PR!
I just received "Ready for Visa" letter, requesting photocopies of my passport and photos.
I was expecting to get this e-mail in mid Oct. or early Nov., so it was very exciting that I almost had heart attack. lol
All the documents are sent, and I look forward to get my CoPR in 2-3 weeks from now on.


I will share my timeline with you;


May 10, 2017 - AOR received (Express Entry: CEC Inland)
July 21, 2017 - Singapore COC request from CIC
July 22, 2017 - Medical exam passed
Aug. 02, 2017 - Singapore COC Appeal Application submitted
Aug. 08, 2017 - Singapore COC Appeal approved
Aug. 08, 2017 - Singapore COC Application submitted
Aug. 10, 2017 - Singapore COC Application accepted
Aug. 11, 2017 - Fingerprints sent to Singapore Police Force
Aug. 25, 2017 - Singapore COC APPROVED
Aug. 26, 2017 - Singapore COC uploaded to CIC
Sept. 13, 2017 - EE application status - "We are reviewing additional documents you provided"
Sept. 14, 2017 - EE application status updated - "We do not need additional documents - something like this"
Sept. 15, 2017 - 'Ready for Visa' e-mail received ; passport copy and photo requested

Hi, kelly, I too got PPR today! Hurray!

Just to share:
June 19th - AOR
July 13th - Medicals passed
July 25th - Request letter for SIngapore's COC
Aug 14th - 18th - Trip to Singapore to get FIN, aplpy for COC. Fingerprints taken and appeal accepted.
Sept 6th - COC picked up by proxy and submitted
Sep 16th - PPR

 

[lcuong130487]

Hi lcuong130487,


Sorry for late response,

Well I was able to reveal my FIN via school. Fortunately they have kept all student's information in their storage.
As you may know COC application will not go through without FIN.
If you are not able to locate your FIN, try to contact your school or workplace.

Hope you find your FIN too!

hi Kelly
Congratulation , finally you did it .
Thanks for your sharing but unfortunately my school didn't keep my record after 5 years I left school. So I have to come Singapore next week . Same condition with Alzs . Say good luck to me

 

[Dagdusheth]

Hi guys,

I have a strange issue going on. I worked in Singapore from 2009-2013 on an Employment Pass. I visited Singapore 5-10 times after that on a Tourist visa. I applied for my COC and got it very quickly. However, the dates on my COC are only from 2009-2013 when I worked there and does not include any dates of my visit to Singapore as a tourist.

Canadian Immigration will need the COC to cover my tourist dates as well, right? I called SPF and they told me that they do not issue COC for tourist travel! I don't understand this and I am not sure what to do next.

 

[kelly8711]

Hi guys,

I have a strange issue going on. I worked in Singapore from 2009-2013 on an Employment Pass. I visited Singapore 5-10 times after that on a Tourist visa. I applied for my COC and got it very quickly. However, the dates on my COC are only from 2009-2013 when I worked there and does not include any dates of my visit to Singapore as a tourist.

Canadian Immigration will need the COC to cover my tourist dates as well, right? I called SPF and they told me that they do not issue COC for tourist travel! I don't understand this and I am not sure what to do next.

It should be okay.
My COC did not cover the periods I visited Singapore as tourism; it only covered the periods I stayed under study permit.
Everything went well I guess, as my CEC got approved