Focussing on the preparation

[claudi12]

We printed out the forms already, to fill in as soon as possible. My case might be a bit complex since I was born in Suriname, lived in the Netherland for nearly 30 years and now citizen of Australia. My question is about the required police check. Do I need police checks from all the countries I have lived and do they require recent police clearance or is a 8 year old police check still good to use for sponsor purposes. I have never lived in my birth country since we have moved decades ago. If so can I get it thru an embassy of both countries?
Please, shed light on my enquiries, and thanks in advance.
Cheers

 

[canadianwoman]

You need police certificates from every country where you have lived for six months or more since you were 18. If you left Suriname before you turned 18, and have not spent 6 months there since, you do not need one from there. The police certificate from the country where yo live now has to be new (issued six months or less before you apply); the ones from other countries just have to have been issued after you left that country. You don't need one from Canada.
This is CIC's webpage about police certificates, which also tells you how to get one from each country:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/index.asp