Hi there, I'm in a very tricky situation. I was asked on April 21st to provide a Guatemalan police check. I only spent 2 months there in 2012 and, as far as I've seen (even in the request email itself), the rule is that a PCC is required for countries where you've spent 6 months or more.
The only way of obtaining a PCC for Guatemala is in person, in Guatemala City. It would be impossible for me, both practically and financially, to travel there right now and, even if I could, I would need to go to 2 different offices in Guatemala City- one of the most dangerous cities in the world!- and would be very unlikely to be able to communicate sufficiently in Spanish to obtain the certificates.
I asked CIC over the phone whether the request was made in error and the call centre operator said it didn't look like a mistake as it is noted on our application that it has been requested but that there's a possibility that they could have thought we were there for more than 6 months (though I think this is unlikely). I have tried emailing to ask for a more definite answer but, unsurprisingly considering this is CIC we're talking about, have had no response.
I saw that it says on the CIC website that says, "If you are not able to get a police certificate from a country because you are a refugee from that country or for any other reason, please explain the reasons in writing." I am going to try this and hope that my reasons are good enough!
Has anyone ever successfully been exempt from producing a certificate based on it being impossible to obtain it???
Has anyone been given an extension on the amount of time given to produce a police certificate???
Does anyone know of any way of getting a Guatemalan police certificate without travelling to Guatemala???
Would really appreciate any advice anyone can offer!
The only way of obtaining a PCC for Guatemala is in person, in Guatemala City. It would be impossible for me, both practically and financially, to travel there right now and, even if I could, I would need to go to 2 different offices in Guatemala City- one of the most dangerous cities in the world!- and would be very unlikely to be able to communicate sufficiently in Spanish to obtain the certificates.
I asked CIC over the phone whether the request was made in error and the call centre operator said it didn't look like a mistake as it is noted on our application that it has been requested but that there's a possibility that they could have thought we were there for more than 6 months (though I think this is unlikely). I have tried emailing to ask for a more definite answer but, unsurprisingly considering this is CIC we're talking about, have had no response.
I saw that it says on the CIC website that says, "If you are not able to get a police certificate from a country because you are a refugee from that country or for any other reason, please explain the reasons in writing." I am going to try this and hope that my reasons are good enough!
Has anyone ever successfully been exempt from producing a certificate based on it being impossible to obtain it???
Has anyone been given an extension on the amount of time given to produce a police certificate???
Does anyone know of any way of getting a Guatemalan police certificate without travelling to Guatemala???
Would really appreciate any advice anyone can offer!
