Life in Canada
How to Get Police Clearance Certificates in Canada?
A Police certificate is a document that is used to determine if an applicant is eligible for immigration to Canada. IRCC uses police certificates to prove that applicants are not criminally inadmissible. In addition, permanent residence applicants and their family members aged 18 or over must undergo a security clearance to immigrate to Canada.
What are Police Certificates?
Police Clearance Certifications, also known as certificates of non-criminal activity, police clearance certificates, good conduct certificates, Judicial record extracts, etc. They are required from the applicant’s current country of residency as well as from every other nation they have lived in for more than six months since 18 years old. They can also be acquired from law enforcement or other governmental organizations.
The police certificate must have been obtained for the nation in which the applicant now resides no more than six months before applying. However, for countries where the individual has lived for six months or more, the police certificate must be issued after the last time the applicant lived in that country.
Criminal Admissibility Check
Every application for Canadian immigration must pass a background investigation to rule out any involvement in terrorism or subversion. This is done to defend and preserve the peace and safety of Canadian society.
To evaluate if a candidate poses a threat to Canada’s internal security, security screening judgments are based on information from all available sources that are carefully reviewed. Moreover, an interview will be set with the applicant to go over these findings when there are security concerns. Anyone found to be such a threat will not be allowed entry into Canada.
A person may be considered inadmissible on the grounds of criminality and severe criminality. However, IRCC allows a person to enter Canada in the case of criminal rehabilitation either deemed or individual Criminal rehabilitation
How to get a Police certificate?
You can get the certificate by reaching out to any of the places mentioned below;
- The police;
- Passport office;
- Indian Embassy or consulate;
- PR consultancy firm
In the next step, you are required to provide information or documents, such as photographs, fingerprints, or your addresses and dates to prove that you lived in the country or territory. Note: In the case of certificates in languages other than English or French, a certified translator must provide the original copy of the translation. Finally, you need to pay for the application.
If you are coming to Canada temporarily, you may need a Temporary Residence Permit (TRP) to enter the country. An immigration lawyer can help you overcome criminal inadmissibility in such cases. Also, lawyers can provide a Legal Opinion Letter to support your case.
