VALIDITY OF POLICE CERTIFICATES

[Dreamer]

Hello everybody,

This forum has been full of good news lately and I am very happy for Ozzie and Eduardo that got their Canadian Visas.  I have a question to anybody who knows about this topic.  What is the validity of a Police Certificate? How long is it valid for CIC?  For example, if you have your FBI clearence dated September 06 and then you are requested in April 07, will they take that clearance as valid? or do I have to request a new one?

Thank you in advance for your answer,

Dreamer

[mopata]

Hi Dreamer,

I'm not sure of the exact duration of an FBI report's validity, but I do know that I had to do it twice.  We sent the first report with our initial application.  About a year later, when we were told to take our medical exams, the initial background check had expired, and we were told to do it again.  The second time, there was a delay getting the result back from the FBI, so we nearly missed the deadline.  If you're asked to repeat the background check, I'd definitely suggest noting the urgency in your cover letter to the FBI, and marking the envelope with something like "PLEASE EXPEDITE."  The folks at the FBI were extremely helpful once they understood I needed a quick turnaround.

Good luck.

[Dreamer]

Thank you very much for your reply Mopata.  Any suggestions PMM?  Will my August FBI record be still valid?

By the way, I sent an email to the FBI querying how to speed up the process and they sent me the following:

"Please include your deadline date in your cover letter and be sure to mark your OUTSIDE envelope clearly with your deadline date.  We will try to assist with your deadline if at all possible.

We will return your results to whatever address you indicate on your cover letter under "please send the results to this address" via first class mail.  However, in the interest of time, we will FedEx your results directly to your address if you provide a valid international FedEx account number.

A FedEx account number may be obtained by contacting FedEx at 1-800-GoFedEx and requesting a new account.  If you provide them with your credit card number, they will give you a one-time use account.  You can then include this account number in your cover letter with the address where you would like your results sent."

Hope it helps.

Dreamer