Police certificate from Canada

[lhingeth]

Hello everyone,

I am in the process of gathering documents for a permanent resident visa under the family class, as the spouse of a Canadian citizen. Currently, I am living in Europe with my husband. However, I am a bit confused about the requirement for a Canadian police certificate, given that I stayed in Canada for 10 months in 2018 on a working holiday visa.

In the complete guide for spousal sponsorship (IMM 5289), it states, "If you and your family members are 18 years of age and older and aren’t permanent residents or Canadian citizens, you must provide a valid police certificate for any country other than Canada in which you spent 6 or more consecutive months since the age of 18."

However, the checklist (IMM 5533) seems to provide contradictory information: "If you (or a family member 18 or older) have lived in Canada for the last six months, or if Canada is the country where you (or they) have lived for most of your (or their) life since the age of 18, police certificates for Canada are not required at this time. IRCC will request Canadian police certificate(s) on your behalf if necessary. Check here if this applies to you."

Could anyone please clarify this for me?

 

[Kananaskis]

I had the same issue, it's incredibly confusing, I even had a discussion with my lawyer about this and she was confused as well. I've researched companies that would do fingerprints overseas and send to RCMP, and in the end I paid for the police clearance online that they check only with your name and information but you don't need any of that.

You do not need a police certificate from Canada. As it states, IRCC will request one on your behalf.
Just provide any other country police certificate and you will be good.

 

[lhingeth]

Thanks a ton for sharing your experience with the police certificate. It's super helpful and definitely eases my mind a bit. Really appreciate your help, as the process can sometimes be confusing.