Sponsoring my Korean wife for permanent residency

[Red Tape Sucks]

How long are background checks valid for?

Does CIC ask for an updated background check? How would one go about getting one if in Canada?

It seems like they have asked a few people for updated ones, or some people submitted the wrong one, etc. My wife said that a bunch of the people she knows going through the process have recently been asked for a new one. I am wondering if it is because Korea has changed their process a little, and now CIC wants the newest version.

As for getting them from Canada, I believe that a relative can go in and request one, but it is not the easiest process. I am not 100% sure on the details though, sorry.

 

[costaudjoe]

It seems like they have asked a few people for updated ones, or some people submitted the wrong one, etc. My wife said that a bunch of the people she knows going through the process have recently been asked for a new one. I am wondering if it is because Korea has changed their process a little, and now CIC wants the newest version.

As for getting them from Canada, I believe that a relative can go in and request one, but it is not the easiest process. I am not 100% sure on the details though, sorry.

You are right that it is not the easiest process. We have to get the form notarized in Canada and then get the Consulate in Montreal to validate it for $4 in order to allow someone get it for her. However, it makes no distinction for family members. Here is the link: http://can-montreal.mofa.go.kr/english/am/can-montreal/visa/criminal/index.jsp

 

[bartjones]

Hello all,

We went back to the police station today. The police officer showed me what the English background check looks like, and it's actually much nicer than the regular Korean one that you get.... however, it only says "no records found" and doesn't say anything about "lapsed records". The officer ensured me that they have changed the system in Korea and that this one will be fine for immigration purposes. We are picking them up on Thursday or Friday and sending them off that day. I will update this again, if I hear anything more from Manilla.

*I have been trying to attach a picture of the application forms, but I can't seem to get it to work. Has anyone attached a picture before? I want to attach the application form and the actual police check once I receive it.

I don't know whether they changed the CHIR form, but somewhere on the search result it should have a box that says "Scope Requested" and if they have done the search correctly, next to that box it should say "Criminal History and Investigation Records Including Lapsed Records". If it doesn't say that, then you have a problem.

Don't listen to the people at the police station if they tell you that it's fine for Canadian immigration purposes. They told my wife they knew all about it and that the search they gave her was fine for CIC. That was just plain wrong.

 

[bartjones]

How long are background checks valid for?

Does CIC ask for an updated background check? How would one go about getting one if in Canada?

Thanks!

Your CHIR must be dated no more than 3 months before you submit it.

If you are in Canada you can have a close relative (parent or sibling) do it for you in Korea. If you can't do that, you will need to go to the nearest Korean embassy and get a form appointing a particular individual in Korea to do it on your behalf.

 

[bartjones]

You are right that it is not the easiest process. We have to get the form notarized in Canada and then get the Consulate in Montreal to validate it for $4 in order to allow someone get it for her. However, it makes no distinction for family members. Here is the link: http://can-montreal.mofa.go.kr/english/am/can-montreal/visa/criminal/index.jsp

Maybe that is the process at the Montreal consulate. My wife did it twice at the Toronto consulate. They didn't require any notarization of the power of attorney. She just went in, filled out the form and they did the rest. On both occasions, the whole thing took about 15 minutes.

You may want to call them and see if their process is different. That information you linked to may be outdated or incorrect. It's certainly different from the process in Toronto.

Close family members can also do it without the power of attorney. CanNZ did it that way just a few months ago.

 

[Marticus]

Hello all,

We went back to the police station today. The police officer showed me what the English background check looks like, and it's actually much nicer than the regular Korean one that you get.... however, it only says "no records found" and doesn't say anything about "lapsed records". The officer ensured me that they have changed the system in Korea and that this one will be fine for immigration purposes. We are picking them up on Thursday or Friday and sending them off that day. I will update this again, if I hear anything more from Manilla.

*I have been trying to attach a picture of the application forms, but I can't seem to get it to work. Has anyone attached a picture before? I want to attach the application form and the actual police check once I receive it.

We went in to the police station yesterday. We are leaving for Canada soon, while my wife is still processing, so we thought we would double-up on some documents, in case Manila asks us for replacements down the road.

Anyways, we got her criminal record stuff checked, think it cost us 1,000 W for the Korean AND English copy. The format DID change, yes. However, it clearly states:

조회범위: 범죄경력(실호된 형 포함), 수사경력
Scope of Reference: Criminal Records (including lapsed criminal sentences), Investigation Records

There are a couple different forms you can get. The one you are looking for is called: 범죄 - 수사경력 회보서

 

[Korea2Canada]

What does this mean:

Today a DHL courier showed up at the door (i just had my shoes on to go out for the day) with fairly big envelope. It is from Manila. I have not opened it yet until I have time to sit down and be ready. Any idea what it could be? I was expecting the final notice to just be a letter in an envelope! I hope they didn't return the whole thing! We are at the 14 month mark now and submitted the second medical about 5-6 weeks ago.

 

[Red Tape Sucks]

We went in to the police station yesterday. We are leaving for Canada soon, while my wife is still processing, so we thought we would double-up on some documents, in case Manila asks us for replacements down the road.

Anyways, we got her criminal record stuff checked, think it cost us 1,000 W for the Korean AND English copy. The format DID change, yes. However, it clearly states:

조회범위: 범죄경력(실호된 형 포함), 수사경력
Scope of Reference: Criminal Records (including lapsed criminal sentences), Investigation Records

There are a couple different forms you can get. The one you are looking for is called: 범죄 - 수사경력 회보서

Hey Marticus,

I picked up mine today and they are not written like that at all. These just say NO RECORDS FOUND. The guy assured me that this was the newest format and included the lapsed part....

Where did you go to get yours done and how long did it take them to process it? They gave you both an English and Korean copy? We are going to have to go again tomorrow and request more, as we leave on Saturday and Manilla has requested another criminal check.

Thanks!

 

[Korea2Canada]

Tip: use the sample police check posted somewhere in this thread. Print it and bring it with you to the police dept.

 

[Korea2Canada]

Tip: be sure to have your spouse bring his or her passport when getting the medical in Korea. My wife called Severance Hospital and asked what she had to bring in advance. They did't mention the passport so it caused a big waste of time on that day. Regardless, the medical process went ok.

 

[Korea2Canada]

I bet this is the package I got today! Wife and I will open it tonight after son goes to bed. Feels like Christmas Eve!

No, no phone call, email, letter, etc. One day the doorbell rang and it was the courier with the COPR package, which included the COPR and our original pictures, documents, etc., from our application.

When we moved to Canada from Seoul, I phoned the CIC office in Canada and told them about the address change. The person I spoke to told me that because we had applied outland, that I should email the Manilla VO and give them the new address details along with my husband's UCI # and our application #. I sent the email and a few days later it was changed in the ecas system.

 

[Marticus]

Hey Marticus,

I picked up mine today and they are not written like that at all. These just say NO RECORDS FOUND. The guy assured me that this was the newest format and included the lapsed part....

Where did you go to get yours done and how long did it take them to process it? They gave you both an English and Korean copy? We are going to have to go again tomorrow and request more, as we leave on Saturday and Manilla has requested another criminal check.

Thanks!

Hi! Yeah, sounds like you got a bit of the run-around there. I got mine done at the Dongbu Main Police Station, in Daegu.

We sent off our criminal record that was identical to that of the example shown on various websites (naver etc,) but there is a *newly* formatted one (same stuff, just different style) It took about as long as it took the printer to print a copy of both English and Korean versions (like under 1 minute).

*note* Again, this version is different than the original one we sent in (the one shown in the examples), we were assured that this is the same thing, just a different format

 

[bartjones]

What does this mean:

Today a DHL courier showed up at the door (i just had my shoes on to go out for the day) with fairly big envelope. It is from Manila. I have not opened it yet until I have time to sit down and be ready. Any idea what it could be? I was expecting the final notice to just be a letter in an envelope! I hope they didn't return the whole thing! We are at the 14 month mark now and submitted the second medical about 5-6 weeks ago.

Sounds like you've reached the end of the road. Congratulations.

 

[CanAsian]

What does this mean:

Today a DHL courier showed up at the door (i just had my shoes on to go out for the day) with fairly big envelope. It is from Manila. I have not opened it yet until I have time to sit down and be ready. Any idea what it could be? I was expecting the final notice to just be a letter in an envelope! I hope they didn't return the whole thing! We are at the 14 month mark now and submitted the second medical about 5-6 weeks ago.

We got our package in a big DHL envelope as well. They sent back all our pics and supporting documents so if you sent a lot that could explain the size of the envelope. Just look for the nice long paper that should be the COPR.
Let us know the results before we send out congrats.

 

[CanNZ]

Hopefully that is good news K2C.

Btw, did your wife have to do a re-med?