If you are passing through immigration of Canada Express Entry aligned programs, you will need to submit a police certificate as a part of the final application for permanent residence.
Croyez Immigration, one of the best Canada PR consultancies, enables candidates to acquire all the documents for minimizing errors. Furthermore, since the application process is quite rigorous, candidates partner with a Canada PR consultancy to enhance their chances of success for express entry immigration pathways.
One such critical part of the process is a police clearance certificate for Canada immigration from India or your country. Acquiring this certification is mandatory, and failure to do so may result in your application being rejected. This blog dives deep into what a police certificate means and all related questions about obtaining a Canada police certificate for the express entry program.
What is a Police Certification?
A Canada police certificate is a document ascertaining that the visa applicant does not have a criminal record. If they have one, they must submit a copy of the record to the authorities. These documents confirm if they are admissible or, for any reason, inadmissible to enter Canada. Police clearance certificates for Canada PR are known by different names in different countries and regions, namely:
- Police clearance certificates
- Good conduct certificates
- Judicial record extracts, etc.
Unauthorized copies of the certification may not get accepted. Candidates should provide a scanned copy of the original document or a legit document. If your certificate is in any other language other than French or English, you must send the police certificate along with its translation done by a professional translator.
What is a Request Letter?
In some cases, countries may issue a police certificate only if a person has an official letter that requests such a certificate. In such cases, you must create a document that states that you are applying from a country that needs an official request letter from the IRCC and submits it to the IRCC to obtain a police certificate. Once IRCC confirms that your application is complete, they will issue the request letter and also offer additional time to get the outstanding certificates.
Who Needs to Submit a Police Certificate?
A police certificate needs to be submitted by an applicant who is 18 years or older based on the immigration program to get police verification for Canada PR. Different programs have different timelines when you have to send your police certificates.
Given below are the following situations:
-
If you are an Express Entry Candidate:
If you are applying for Canada express entry PR, you will need to submit your police certificate within 90 days after application submission. You can avoid unnecessary penalties for delay by beginning your police check as soon as you are in the applicant pool.
-
If you are an International Experience Canada Candidate:
If you fall under this category, you will have to submit your police certificate while you submit your work permit applications.
How to Obtain a Police Certificate in India?
Most of the time, you will need to contact the government or police department to request the police certificate. To acquire the police certificate, you will need to:
- Provide information and documents such as fingerprints, photographs, dates, and addresses of the countries you lived in.
- Pay the required fee amount.
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Steps to Obtain the Police Certificate from India for Immigration to Canada:
You must submit a police clearance certificate for Canada immigration from India or your country when you apply for permanent residence. Depending on the program and the visa type, you may also be asked to provide a police certificate to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for a work permit, study permit, or electronic travel authorization.
You may apply for the police clearance certificate at any of the places given below:
- At the local district police station
- At the passport office
- At the Indian Embassy or Consulate
- At a reputed Canada PR Consultancy Firm
Rules for Issuance of a Police Certificate:
- Character certificates are not acceptable.
- Certain police certificates have limitations with respect to jurisdiction and time period of submission. It is advisable to take this into account while applying for the certification.
- Depending upon the issuing authority, there are many formats of the police clearance certificate, and it should not be overlooked.
How to Check the Validity of the Police Certificate?
If the police certificate requested is for a different country than the one you live in, the certificate must have been issued following the period of your final stay in the country for six months or more.
If the police certificate is for the country in which you currently reside, it must be issued within six months before the date of submission of the application.
What if You are Unable to Acquire the Police Certificate for Canada Express Entry PR Before the Deadline?
Once you receive your ITA (Invitation to Apply), you will have 60 days to turn in your filled-up permanent resident application along with your police certificate.
Since some countries take more than 60 days to issue the police certificate, you may apply for your certificate in advance.
But for any reason whatsoever, if you are unable to obtain the police certificate on time, you have two options:
- You may decline your invitation. If your express entry application is less than 12 months old, your name will go back to the pool of candidates and may be considered in future Express Entry draws.
You can submit your Canada Express Entry PR application and upload the documentation (tracking number, payment receipt, etc.) that says that the police certificate has been requested, along with a letter of explanation of the situation. In such cases, the IRCC immigration staff may accept these documents as a guarantee until you submit the police certificate. - If you submit an application without the police certificate and without any supporting document explaining the same, your application may be rejected for being incomplete.
Get in touch with Croyez Immigration, an experienced and reputed Canada PR consultancy, to learn everything about police certifications and other documents for a frictionless immigration process.
