Submitting PR Application without Police Clearance?

[swestenzweig]

I am finalizing my PR application and preparing it for submission to CIC. However, my police clearance from the FBI has still not arrived (my request was received at the FBI on Nov 7, 2014). There has been conflicting information coming out of the FBI on when I can expect to receive the clearance, with estimates running from days to a month or more. At this point, I am weighing my options.

For those of you who have submitted a PR application without police clearance... How does this affect your overall processing time? Can I submit the police clearance as soon as I receive it or must I wait until CIC requests it? Is there any risk of the police clearance expiring prior to CIC requesting/receiving it?

Thanks!

 

[tink23]

I have heard of many American applicants, or those requiring an FBI certificate from the U.S. have sent in their applications without the FBI clearance since it is taking so long to receive. It's my understanding that they then send in the FBI clearance once sponsor approval has happened and the application has been sent to Ottawa (or whichever vo is responsible for their application).

I don't have experience with his, but my concern would be that since sponsor approval is taking about 90 days, there could be a risk of the FBI cert. expiring if it is received soon after you mail the application to Mississauga, and then u have to wait to send the FBI cert anyway since your application is basically in limbo u til u receive the UCI number, which is usually upon sponsor approval or right before sponsor is approved.

 

[rhcohen2014]

yes, many us applicants have been submitting the police record after sponsor approval because of the backlog at cjis. it really hasn't impacted processing for people, mainly because the backlog is somewhat new, so most of those applications haven't started processing yet at the visa office. What generally happens when a police record is not included up front is CIC will include instructions in the sponsor eligibility letter to send it to the visa office or the visa office will request it later on. It's generally best to send it as soon as possible so it's connected to the application before it's opened for processing. As long as CIC receives the record within 90 days of it being issued, there is generally no problem.

for those applicants who have had to send police records upon request by the visa office, there has been some delay in processing. the ottawa spreadsheet (the blue link in my signature below) will show what applicants experienced. it's not necessary to wait until it's asked during processing, it's definitely ok to send it after sponsor approval. It really won't be possible to send it before then, since you won't have UCI or file numbers.

the tricky part right now is timing it correctly since SA and the FBI report are both taking a long time.

 

[swestenzweig]

the tricky part right now is timing it correctly since SA and the FBI report are both taking a long time.

Thanks so much for the detailed response; that's exactly what I was looking for.

The timing is my biggest concern, as I know SA is taking a long time, too. The wording on the CIC site says the police certificate must be issued no more than three months before you apply, so I was curious if this requirement was waived when the application is submitted prior to the clearance being issued. It doesn't look like that is the case.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Thanks so much for the detailed response; that's exactly what I was looking for.

The timing is my biggest concern, as I know SA is taking a long time, too. The wording on the CIC site says the police certificate must be issued no more than three months before you apply, so I was curious if this requirement was waived when the application is submitted prior to the clearance being issued. It doesn't look like that is the case.

no, that's assuming the record is being submitted upfront (which technically is required - but cic is looking the other way right now). as long as it's received by cic within 90 days, it doesn't matter if it was submitted up front or later on.