Do I need police certificates in this case?

[Sniprat]

Hello all. Bear with me on this.

I am trying to decide whether I need police certificates for when I worked in Italy. The CIC website says anywhere I lived 6 or more consecutive months... is this cumulative or would returns back home (to UK in this case) for 2 weeks at christmas and 3 months in the summer negate that? Just to be clear, my stays in Italy were usually 19 September to 20 December and January 5 to June 30.

Thanks.

 

[Sweden]

Hello all. Bear with me on this.

I am trying to decide whether I need police certificates for when I worked in Italy. The CIC website says anywhere I lived 6 or more consecutive months... is this cumulative or would returns back home (to UK in this case) for 2 weeks at christmas and 3 months in the summer negate that? Just to be clear, my stays in Italy were usually 19 September to 20 December and January 5 to June 30.

Thanks.

Hey Sniprat,

you should probably get the certificates from Italy ( I know it's a painful process!) because it looks like the two weeks will be considered holidays in the UK and your stay in Italy would appear to be from 19th September to 30th June - more than 6 months. CIC appears to be quite picky with Police Checks ( a friend of mine was asked for one for a country where she had stayed only 5.5months, but CIC would not issue the visa without... ), so save yourself some time in the long run - and apply for the certificates before being asked for it. Otherwise, it will delay your file. Also because - you can not argue to CIC that it is a country where it's difficult to obtain the Police Checks - it's a bit long and costly for sure, but there is nothing preventing you from doing it, and you don't need to be physically in the country...

If the rest of your application is ready, and other papers are going to expire soon, you could consider sending your application with a letter saying that you are working on obtaining the police certificates from Italy, and you will send them as soon as you have them. But in general - I wouldn't advise it, it's much better to get everything right away, and send it ( in some countries it can take up to 6 months to get a Police Certificate, so in that case it's justified to send the application without, but not for Italy).

Good luck,
Sweden