Urgency with police check for submitted CEC application

[clodaoc]

Hi,

I submitted my second attemp at a CEC application on 29 Nov 2013 (my first was rejected about 2 weeks previous due to an error with one part of the paperwork) and added a note saying police checks would follow. I need to submit both an Irish and an Australian check for myself and my common law partner (we are both Irish but spent 12 months in Australia).

I explained and provided evidence with our paperwork (print off from AFP website) that the AFP site was down due to an attempted hacking at the time when I was looking to apply for our new police checks. I posted our police check applications to Canberra but of course that delayed things as opposed to being able to just apply through their website. In the meantime we received our Irish police certs but the stamp on mine was so faint that I had to request a 2nd copy to be sure it would be accepted. When the Australian ones were finally received (about a week before Christmas) I noticed a couple of errors such as incorrect post code, spelling mistake with my name and they used "Complete Disclosure" on my one and "Partial Disclosure" on my partners although I speecifically mentioned code 35 on their police check form and said it was for CEC residency which needed "Standard Disclosure - Name Check" to appear on the police check. I also mentioned that we had received police checks from their office 12 months previous so we were just looking for updated copies pretty much as we hadn't actually been back to Australia so nothing would have changed on the police checks!

Since this error they have sent me 2 more incorrect versions, the most recent being today. The name spelling and address on my one has been amended but they have not changed either of our police checks to "Standard Disclosure - Name Check"

I will be requesting a 4th version on Sunday (the time difference between here and Australia means thats the earliest I can now get through to them during their business hours) and in the meantime I will be posting the Irish ones today. I had wanted to send all 4 together however because of the delay i think its best to get the Irish ones sent and then follow with the 2 Australian ones.

Has anyone else had a similar problem? How understanding are the CIC office in Sydney, NS about such things? I understand police checks need to be applied for as early as possible and in this case they were applied for as early as possible! I emailed the helpdesk today explaining the situation to keep them updated and all I can do now is wait for the AFP to get their act together and send us through what we asked for. I have not yet received the rejected CEC paperwork back (I don't actually believe they will send this...) so that means they should still have our 2012 Australian police certs on file if that makes any difference?

Any thoughts on the matter would be much appreciated. I am uneasy about the situation because the NOC I applied under is category B and I am aware there is a cap of 200 places so i'm not sure if I am under that cap now due to my application being sent a number of weeks ago or if i'm not being considered without the police certs.

Thanks in advance.

 

[lpc19800]

It's fine
My application was sent to CIC in January 2013 and my police certificates were sent in August 2013 - no issues there. No one cares until the immigration officer looks at your file - which is right before you get medicals.

 

[clodaoc]

Hi, thanks for your quick response!

Thats great to hear - its so hard to know exactly what to do in this situation and they never respond to emails so its pretty much just a guessing game. I am presuming I will need to post the original police certs to the office in Sydney, NS where I sent my CEC application? Is that what you did?

Also...this might be a long shot but do you know anything about the new rule since November 2013 regarding the 200 application cap per category B NOC's? My concern really is this hold up means my application isn't going to be considered under the 200 cap for the NOC that I used until the police certs are there with the rest of my paperwork?

 

[clodaoc]

Sorry one more thing to add....

On the first Aus police check I received it said my name, committed no offences etc... and then a line that read "who has advised that they are or have previously been known as"... and then they spelled my name differently. This was not included on the police check I received from them in 2012 for my last CEC application.

I haven't changed my name - however on my birth cert the spelling is slightly different (Irish spelling of my middle name V the English spelling which I use). I have never had to declare this as it's not a name change. I phoned the Aus police office and asked they omit that line as it's confusing things that don't need to be confused. On the last version they sent (received today) the left the line in but had my name spelled the same (English spelling) in both sections. Which is basically saying I used to be called the same name as what I am called now!

This CEC application process can make a person quite paranoid! Do you think this will cause a problem? Surely the fact I have never committed an offence is the main issue? It wasn't an issue with my last application but as I said...paranoia can creep in!

In the meantime I still have to wait to call the Aus police and get a 4th version of a simple police check!

 

[lpc19800]

I checked my AFP cert and didn't have that on there but I wouldn't worry about it.
Don't forget that if you lived in some states that you have to get the driver's check too - even if you didn't have a license - I know that Victoria is one state but I'm not sure of the others.

Re the cap - it's done on application date so you'll be fine.

 

[clodaoc]

Great thanks again! Looks like I still need to get in touch to get them to change the certs to "Standard Disclosure - Name Check" even though they will still contain the same info, and then submit and breathe a sigh of relief!

Thanks for your help

 

[sweet06]

you need send original police certificates to CPP-OTTAWA once you receive the AOR and not to sydney CIC

 

[clodaoc]

i sent them to Sydney on Friday!! ???

Is this going to cause a problem?!

 

[lpc19800]

i sent them to Sydney on Friday!! ???

Is this going to cause a problem?!

Probably - although no one can say for sure
Did you put your AOR details in there too? If so you hav a chance of CIO sending it to Ottawa. If not then id get another and send it to Ottawa yourself.

 

[clodaoc]

I only submitted my CEC residency application last November so it was sent to the Sydney office (as its supposed to). I don't even have a case number, I haven't received the first email from them to say the paperwork has been checked and is on its way to the 2nd office in Ottowa. So my paperwork has to be in Sydney still. I tracked the police checks anyway and they will be signed for. I provided my contact details and my address is on my police check anyway but considering they never posted back any of my paperwork from the CEC application i submitted last year I don't think they'd post these back if in fact they did go to the wrong address!

 

[clodaoc]

I meant to say i don't have acknowledgement of receipt details yet. My paperwork was posted on 29th Nov from the UK so it has only been in Sydney, NS since the first few days in December.

 

[lpc19800]

So this is why I think there is a problem:
There are now two envelopes in CIO NS: your application and your Pcc
There is nothing linking these except your name
Since no file number has been generated your application is sitting in a pile

Do you think CIO is going to spend time tracking down a file that has no official location yet (ie file number) to add a police certificate.
In my mind, I'm sorry to say the answer is no

 

[jes_ON]

I meant to say i don't have acknowledgement of receipt details yet. My paperwork was posted on 29th Nov from the UK so it has only been in Sydney, NS since the first few days in December.

This is unfortunate. Once you submit your application, you are supposed to wait to get your file number before you try to add anything. lpc19800 is right, there is a good chance that your Irish PCCs will be lost. (It's possible that they are matched to your file, but it's not likely).

 

[clodaoc]

Yep i understand what you are saying. Well i suppose the best I can do now is just keep tracking the envelope and as soon as its at their office email them again saying the date/time it arrived and who signed for it. It is on route so they should have it tomorrow or the day after. If i need to request two more Irish certs then that will be a nuisance but i suppose i should wait and see if they actually receive them first before panicking about that?

I got an email this morning to say the Australian ones are on the way so i will definitely hold onto these until i get clear instruction from the processing people as to where to send them!

It would be alot more straight forward if i could call them to ask instead of waiting around for an email but unfortunately that option doesn't exist for applicants overseas