Dear Seniors,
For police certificate, please advise if i need to apply or not for my following case:
Last 4 years:
1>> Dec-2016 to April 2017 - in Brazil
2>> April-2017 to Dec-2017 - in Singapore
3>> Dec-2017 to Dec-2020 - in Canada
For 1, even though its less than 183 days in my last 4 years, but I have been there even before dec-2016 and exceeds 183 days. Do i need to apply or not?
For 2, even though I have been there for more than 183 days, I did leave in between to another country for vacation, so it is not 183 days in a row, do i need to apply for PCC?
Thank you in advance.
I do not offer advice. I am no expert. But whether or not to submit a police clearance WITH the application simply depends on how you answer item 10.b) in the application. If you check [no], that means you do not need to submit a police certificate. If you check [yes] you probably need to submit a clearance WITH the application.
For the time in Singapore, even if it is not precisely the case, to my view the *BEST* answer is to check [yes], list Singapore, and include a police clearance with the application.
But that is not absolutely necessary. It would not be misrepresentation to check [no] based on having left that country such that you can honestly say you were not in Singapore for 183 or more days in a row. And if you check [no] you do not need to submit a police certificate with the application.
In any event, it is how YOU answer item 10.b) that determines whether a police clearance is needed (WITH the application; note that IRCC can always ask for one anyway).
You do not answer item 10.b) based on whether or not you need to submit a police certificate. It works the other way. You answer item 10.b) based on your best understanding of what it asks and your knowledge of the true facts.
There is good reason, I'd suggest, for answering item 10.b) by checking [yes] in the scenario described. Sure, one can quibble with what does "were you in a country" for 183 days "in a row" actually mean? Does it mean "actually physically present" in that country all those days? Or does it mean living in that country, maintaining a residence in that country or holding a job in that country, over that period of time?
If you understand it to be about actual physical presence, and feel you weren't because, as you say, on at least one occasion you left (which might merely mean driving over the causeway into Malaysia to visit a wildlife park), so you check [no], no, not in Singapore for 183 days in a row, that should not be seen as a misrepresentation. And your application will pass the completeness screening (in this regard anyway), and thus go into process.
But if you feel like the question is asking whether or not you were, in effect, living or working in another country for a period of time that was six months or longer, so you answer [yes], and you include the police clearance, that is not going to raise any questions or concerns. No risk of a non-routine request for a police clearance later. Less risk (there is always some) of a non-routine referral for background checks as to that country.
In any event, just to be clear, the answer to the question about whether or not the applicant needs to submit a police certificate is easy. It depends on how the applicant answers a question of fact. It depends on how the applicant answers item 10.b) in the application:
If the applicant checks [no], it is for sure, the applicant does not need to submit a police certificate WITH the application (applicant can still be asked to submit one later).
If the applicant checks [yes], the applicant probably does need to submit a police certificate WITH the application but there are exceptions (mostly having to do with having previously submitted a clearance covering that period of time).
How the applicant should respond to item 10.b) is a question of fact. The applicant should give his or her BEST, honest and accurate answer, based on the applicant's understanding of the question and knowledge of the relevant facts.
But this leads to . . .
For 2 - provide them with proof like in/out dates from passport stamps and also ensure in your physical presence details you mention that country in additional notes.
No. Well, the first part no. Applicants are not asked to submit things like passport stamps with the application and in general should avoid including anything that is not asked for. That is, FOLLOW the INSTRUCTIONS, including the checklist. Sometimes it is prudent to include a bit extra, for clarification, but generally NO.
The second part, yes, of course, in the presence calculator the applicant lists the primary destination for all periods of time outside Canada, and if the applicant also traveled to some other country during that period, the applicant lists those additional countries visited in the box for describing the reason or purpose for the trip abroad. But this is NOT about providing precise details about those side trips, so to say.
In Any Event, For Clarification . . .
IRCC will NOT be interested in proof the applicant took a trip outside the other country. Does not matter. What matters is whether or not the applicant has any arrests, criminal charges or convictions, in that country.
If IRCC has concerns, those concerns will be about whether there are prohibitions based on criminal charges in another country. Does not matter if the individual left that country while living there . . . or, even, if the individual was not even there for as long as six months.
That is, if IRCC has concerns, it will either ask for a police certificate (which can happen even if the individual spent a short period of time in that country) or make a non-routine referral for background checks in the other country (with high risk of processing delays), or BOTH . . . noting, though, in recent years it appears that IRCC mostly refers such concerns for non-routine background checks and all the applicant sees is nothing happening on his or her application for longer than it is taking others.
