Unobtainable Criminal Record Checks

[Gumby749]

Hey all,

Just a quick question on criminal record checks (CRC). My wife worked in Kuwait a number of years ago for two years. We have applied four times to get a criminal record check from Kuwait (we are not in Kuwait, so it is done long distance, twice we did it via the mail in application, and twice by having an agent in Kuwait submit the papers on our behalf), without even so much as a reply. We have visited the local Kuwaiti embassy and they have said it is all in the hands of the Ministry of Interior in Kuwait and that they no longer process criminal record checks and that we should go to Kuwait in person(!).

We have her criminal record checks from the other countries she has lived in. A

On a different site run by a different immigration lawyer it was advised to send the application (otherwise fully complete, medical and all) in with a covering letter explaining the situation, the rationale was a.) this is not unusual for Kuwait according to posters with experience there and the CIC folks will know this and might let it slide, b.) the check might eventually come and I can always forward it on later.

However, the paperwork says that if we can't get a criminal record check to provide a letter from the police authorities explaining that and why not. This is a Catch-22, if the Kuwaiti authorities won't even respond to four separate requests for a CRC, how likely are they to respond to a request to explain why they won't respond?? :

Any advice?

 

[DaveSav]

Have you received a request from CIC for the Kuwait police clearance?

Kuwait won't process the request for a police clearance unless you include the request letter from CIC

We needed to get a police clearance from Singapore and ran into the same issue, without the request letter from the embassy they will ignore it.

 

[DaveSav]

Sorry so reading your post further it sounds like you haven't sent the app in yet (still working on my first coffee hehe).

CIC is aware that Kuwait won't give you a police clearance until they receive a request letter from CIC.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/mid-east/kuwait.asp

Go ahead and send in your package as is right now, include a letter stating that you cannot get the clearance from Kuwait until you receive a request for that clearance from CIC, include the link above to their own site. You can include a rundown of your attempts to get a clearance but that shouldn't really matter at this point.

After you are approved as a sponsor you should get a letter from CIC with a request for the Kuwait clearance (could take months after), at that point you should be able to use the letter from CIC to obtain the clearance, with the other documents of course.

If they still won't process your request after you've included the letter request from CIC then you should go ahead and advise CIC of this, including a breakdown of everything you've attempted to do to get the letter. CIC will sometimes make exceptions on police clearances if you've made every effort to get one and haven't been able to.

 

[Gumby749]

Thank you for your replies on this.

Yes, we had an agent get the request from the Canadian embassy in Kuwait. Twice they dhled it to us and we filled it out and submitted with our email requests, twice we filled it out and dhled it back to our agent who then gave it to the Kuwaiti MOI in person.

At this point, other than flying to Kuwait and trying to get the CRC in person I'm not sure what other steps we could take.

 

[Gumby749]

Actually, a quick question for you - I am new to this forum and have been unable to find a key to the abbreviations under your avatars. Would you mind explaining what they mean? PS. I am also processing through Manila, had a choice between it or Abu Dhabi, but Manila seems to have a better rep.

 

[DaveSav]

Thank you for your replies on this.

Yes, we had an agent get the request from the Canadian embassy in Kuwait. Twice they dhled it to us and we filled it out and submitted with our email requests, twice we filled it out and dhled it back to our agent who then gave it to the Kuwaiti MOI in person.

At this point, other than flying to Kuwait and trying to get the CRC in person I'm not sure what other steps we could take.

At this point then I would go ahead with what the other lawyer said, include any evidence (DHL receipts, copy of the request letter if you have it. etc) and a letter explaining everything you've done to try get the clearance.

Sometimes they can take awhile, we also needed one from Lebanon and it took about 3 months to get back after we applied through the embassy, not sure how long your wait has been.

 

[DaveSav]

Actually, a quick question for you - I am new to this forum and have been unable to find a key to the abbreviations under your avatars. Would you mind explaining what they mean? PS. I am also processing through Manila, had a choice between it or Abu Dhabi, but Manila seems to have a better rep.

Here's most of the ones under the avatar and some of the other ones you will see when browsing that i can remember.

AOR - acknowledgement of receipt. This is sent when they receive your application.
File transfer - when they send the file from Canada to the Visa office processing the application
Docs request - request for additional docs from Manila, this included my Singapore police clearance for example
Passport req - This is the date they request the passport, in Manila this is usually near the beginning of the process after sponsorship approval
Med's done - the date we had the medical checkup done, valid for one year from that date
Category -FAM - Family class sponsorship
VO - visa office
DM - Decision Made
S/A - sponsorship approval