+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

My PR app is asking for 2 police certs?

Joel19891

Star Member
Sep 7, 2018
54
11
Hi guys,

Currently filling out my PR application for my wife and I.

Filled out the initial details and now at the Supporting Docs stage. It has two slots for Police Certificates which I'm confused by.

We are both from the UK. We moved to Canada May 2017 on an IEC Work Permit and have been in Canada since. I was under the impression that providing a police cert for Canada isn't necessary as they carry out their own checks, in which case, why are they asking me for 2 different police certs?

Thanks!
 

zardoz

VIP Member
Feb 2, 2013
13,304
2,166
Canada
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
16-02-2013
VISA ISSUED...
31-07-2013
LANDED..........
09-11-2013
Hi guys,

Currently filling out my PR application for my wife and I.

Filled out the initial details and now at the Supporting Docs stage. It has two slots for Police Certificates which I'm confused by.

We are both from the UK. We moved to Canada May 2017 on an IEC Work Permit and have been in Canada since. I was under the impression that providing a police cert for Canada isn't necessary as they carry out their own checks, in which case, why are they asking me for 2 different police certs?

Thanks!
One for each of you?
 

Joel19891

Star Member
Sep 7, 2018
54
11
Nope, as we each have 'Police certificate' and 'Police certificate 2' slots :(

Does it base it off trips we've made?

Because I added every trip we've made in the last 10 years. So while we were living in the UK (before getting a work permit here) I included all visits to Canada to visit family. I then also included all visits back to the UK once we were living in Canada on our work permits. But no trip was greater than 6 months. They're all 2 week trips or a weekend trip here and there.
 

Vitesze

Hero Member
Dec 15, 2017
631
342
Nope, as we each have 'Police certificate' and 'Police certificate 2' slots :(

Does it base it off trips we've made?

Because I added every trip we've made in the last 10 years. So while we were living in the UK (before getting a work permit here) I included all visits to Canada to visit family. I then also included all visits back to the UK once we were living in Canada on our work permits. But no trip was greater than 6 months. They're all 2 week trips or a weekend trip here and there.
You never need to include a Police Certificate from Canada, so you can rule that one out.

Did you ever spend more than 6 months in a country other than the UK and Canada? If you add up all the individual trips, is there any country where it would accumulate to 6 months? Did either of you obtain a degree through distance learning offered by an university based in a different country, or was either of you employed remotely by an employer based in a different country?

If you can't find any link to another country that could possibly have led to this 2nd PCC request, simply upload a document where you state that you have not spent 6 months or more in any country besides the UK and Canada and ask them to inform you which PCC you require if they believe otherwise.
 

Joel19891

Star Member
Sep 7, 2018
54
11
Only ever lived in the UK (same goes for both of us) until we moved to Canada in May 2017 and have been here since.

We've not lived in any other country or ever gone to any other country for any longer than a few weeks. Most of our trips in our Travel History is visiting Canada for 2 weeks or 1 week at a time and the rest is a weekend here and there in Europe.

It's just strange as we had to complete a UK police check back in 2016 for our IEC Work Permits and that was just the one certificate since we'd only ever lived in the UK.

Good call with uploading a document as you suggested.

Further to the above, we both have certificates (as mentioned above) that were issued back in May 2016 that was part of our IEC Work Permits. Since we didn't move to Canada until May 2017 I assume we need to get another certificate? :(
 

Vitesze

Hero Member
Dec 15, 2017
631
342
Only ever lived in the UK (same goes for both of us) until we moved to Canada in May 2017 and have been here since.

We've not lived in any other country or ever gone to any other country for any longer than a few weeks. Most of our trips in our Travel History is visiting Canada for 2 weeks or 1 week at a time and the rest is a weekend here and there in Europe.

It's just strange as we had to complete a UK police check back in 2016 for our IEC Work Permits and that was just the one certificate since we'd only ever lived in the UK.

Good call with uploading a document as you suggested.

Further to the above, we both have certificates (as mentioned above) that were issued back in May 2016 that was part of our IEC Work Permits. Since we didn't move to Canada until May 2017 I assume we need to get another certificate? :(
Yes, if you're living in Canada right now, you need to have a UK Police Certificate issued after you left the UK as a resident (so after May 2017). If you don't and apply with your old Certificate that you used for your IEC Work Permits, they will reject it and you will lose your Application fee.

Actually, this is probably the most common reason for applications to be rejected, particularly for people already living in Canada. Don't make the same mistakes as the rest ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: jes_ON

Joel19891

Star Member
Sep 7, 2018
54
11
Ok, I'll have to suck it up and pay again :p

So for the second cert slot, you think uploading a doc explaining I've not lived anywhere else for more than 6 months and wasn't sure what this slot was asking for? I guess with that they won't reject but will ask for more info at most?
 

Vitesze

Hero Member
Dec 15, 2017
631
342
Ok, I'll have to suck it up and pay again :p

So for the second cert slot, you think uploading a doc explaining I've not lived anywhere else for more than 6 months and wasn't sure what this slot was asking for? I guess with that they won't reject but will ask for more info at most?
For my application, I needed a request letter from CIC to apply for my PCC. So I simply uploaded a document in the PCC slot where I explained this to them, and after MEP I received a message from them in which they requested the PCC for the Netherlands. I assume that if you don't know which PCC they expect of you, you can do a similar thing and they will either conclude you don't need one, or send you a message which one they want. Requests for wrong PCCs happen quite often.
 

Joel19891

Star Member
Sep 7, 2018
54
11
Ok, I have an update on this double police certificate slot.

I've just uploaded my first document (Passport Scans) and since doing that, it's now assigned a country to each police cert slot weirdly.

It's asking for a police cert from England and one from Wales... So the UK issues a UK-wide cert, not individuals from Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I assume this was triggered because it picks those up as separate countries and I have worked/studied in England and Wales. I just didn't think they'd consider them separate as for many things they aren't.

So now having seen that for clarify on what they are asking, I can just upload the UK cert, and in the second slot, a doc referring to the doc in the other slot with explanation
 

Vitesze

Hero Member
Dec 15, 2017
631
342
Ok, I have an update on this double police certificate slot.

I've just uploaded my first document (Passport Scans) and since doing that, it's now assigned a country to each police cert slot weirdly.

It's asking for a police cert from England and one from Wales... So the UK issues a UK-wide cert, not individuals from Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I assume this was triggered because it picks those up as separate countries and I have worked/studied in England and Wales. I just didn't think they'd consider them separate as for many things they aren't.

So now having seen that for clarify on what they are asking, I can just upload the UK cert, and in the second slot, a doc referring to the doc in the other slot with explanation
Yes. To be safe, in this doc you should put a link to an UK government website where it states that the UK PCC includes all 4 countries, so there's no doubt for them that they have everything they need.
 

Joel19891

Star Member
Sep 7, 2018
54
11
Good idea. They should know as its the same process I've already done a couple of years ago when providing a UK police check for IEC work permit but better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks! :D
 

Vitesze

Hero Member
Dec 15, 2017
631
342
Good idea. They should know as its the same process I've already done a couple of years ago when providing a UK police check for IEC work permit but better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks! :D
The last thing you want is to have a clueless case analyst look at your application, re-directing it to someone else and ending up delaying your application ;)
 

paul85

Full Member
Sep 23, 2016
35
11
Yes. To be safe, in this doc you should put a link to an UK government website where it states that the UK PCC includes all 4 countries, so there's no doubt for them that they have everything they need.
I am in the same situation as Joel, where I need to upload PCC for England and Wales. But I have UK wide certificate and planning to write an LOE to explain the issue.

Does anyone have any idea where I can get the authentic link of UK government website where it states that the UK PCC includes all 4 countries?
 

jm-34502

Newbie
Jul 19, 2017
8
0
I am in the same situation as Joel, where I need to upload PCC for England and Wales. But I have UK wide certificate and planning to write an LOE to explain the issue.

Does anyone have any idea where I can get the authentic link of UK government website where it states that the UK PCC includes all 4 countries?
Hi Paul & Joel,

I'm in the exact same situation. British Citizen currently living in Canada applying for my PR. Both myself and my girlfriend/common law (a Canadian Citizen) have been requested to put in two police certificates.

I lived and studied in Scotlan so I understand why my account triggered a second one. Whereas the only place my girlfriend has lives more than 6 months is the UK (& Canada which is irrelevant).

Were Canada Immigration OK for you upload a LOE for one police certificate?

Cheers
 

paul85

Full Member
Sep 23, 2016
35
11
Hi Paul & Joel,

I'm in the exact same situation. British Citizen currently living in Canada applying for my PR. Both myself and my girlfriend/common law (a Canadian Citizen) have been requested to put in two police certificates.

I lived and studied in Scotlan so I understand why my account triggered a second one. Whereas the only place my girlfriend has lives more than 6 months is the UK (& Canada which is irrelevant).

Were Canada Immigration OK for you upload a LOE for one police certificate?

Cheers
You can upload the same UK PCC in two separate place holder related to UK PCC. I just added a few lines of explanation Why I did that.