spetroun said:
I currently reside in Canada and am sponsoring my wife and child from Colombia who are in Medellin. I am following the specific country checklist and I will require a background criminal check for my wife as per the checklist. The instructions states that she needs a file number before proceeding with a criminal background check. Is the file number given to me after the sponsorship approval in Canada or will she be requested to go to the Canadian Embassy in Bogota? I have also came across this website which is some sort of processing centre in Bogota that forwards the documents to the Embassy in Bogota. Has anybody had any experience with the VAC centre in Bogota and is it a mandatory procedure for sponsoring my family to Canada? Thanks
Heya
The file number will be given in the sponsorship approval email sent to you. You can then pass it on to her to use for her police certificate.
As for using the VAC, that is completely up to you, it is not mandatory. This link explains it http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/vac.asp
If you are comfortable doing the application and mailing everything yourself, then you can skip the VAC and just send your app directly to CPC - Missasagua yourself. But I think that it is free to use most of the services of the VAC, so it could also be help. As I said, it is completey up to you guys to decide if you want to use it or not.
From what you said, I was trying to figure out if it is your child or your stepchild? Not asking to be rude
but if the child is yours, you can apply for citizenship for him/her.