Police Certificates (Canada, Switzerland, England)

[JLDNNYC 2]

Hello everybody,

I've been reading VJ topics for quite some time and have recently gotten married. My wife has started the immigration procedure in the US and we were told that since I've lived in Switzerland and Canada for more than a year after my 16th birthday I will need police certificates from those countries. I am living in London and am wondering if anyone here has had a similar experience. I've applied for the swiss one and that seems fairly straight forward. The canadian seems less straight forward and any information or confirmation would be much much appreciated.

The way I understand it is that I will need to go to a police station here in London to have my fingerprints taken. I have found information where that can be done (see below):

http://www.met.police.uk/scd/specialist_units/fingerprint_services.htm

Once I have my fingerprints taken I will need to send the information to Canada and for this I have found the information below:

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cr-cj/fing-empr2-eng.htm

If anyone could tell me whether I am on the right track, again that would be much appreciated.

As for the English one we were told to wait until I'm told to get one as I am living here unlike with Canada and Switzerland where I am not returning to live.

Thanks a lot and good luck to you all!

[Laure&Colin 280]

Hello everybody,

I've been reading VJ topics for quite some time and have recently gotten married. My wife has started the immigration procedure in the US and we were told that since I've lived in Switzerland and Canada for more than a year after my 16th birthday I will need police certificates from those countries. I am living in London and am wondering if anyone here has had a similar experience. I've applied for the swiss one and that seems fairly straight forward. The canadian seems less straight forward and any information or confirmation would be much much appreciated.

The way I understand it is that I will need to go to a police station here in London to have my fingerprints taken. I have found information where that can be done (see below):

http://www.met.police.uk/scd/specialist_units/fingerprint_services.htm

Once I have my fingerprints taken I will need to send the information to Canada and for this I have found the information below:

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cr-cj/fing-empr2-eng.htm

If anyone could tell me whether I am on the right track, again that would be much appreciated.

As for the English one we were told to wait until I'm told to get one as I am living here unlike with Canada and Switzerland where I am not returning to live.

Thanks a lot and good luck to you all!

You seem to be on the right track!

For the English one, do you know how long it typically takes? What step are you in the prcoess? Rather than waiting until NVC requires it, you might want to apply right away when you receive NOA2, so that when it is time to send your civil documents with the visa application form, you have everything ready.

[JLDNNYC 2]

You seem to be on the right track!

For the English one, do you know how long it typically takes? What step are you in the prcoess? Rather than waiting until NVC requires it, you might want to apply right away when you receive NOA2, so that when it is time to send your civil documents with the visa application form, you have everything ready.

Hello and thanks for the answer! Good to know I seem to be on the right track:) I don't know how long it will take for the one here in England but it's too early to apply for that one as we've only received NOA1 so far. I was advised to apply for the swiss and canadian ones since I lived there in the past meaning I can apply for those straight away to have them ready. I've only started to look into all of this in order to try finding out how long everything will take and when I should tackle what in order to speed up the process as good as possible.

[orangedesk 27]

I don't know how long it will take for the one here in England but it's too early to apply for that one as we've only received NOA1 so far.

I thought police certificates were valid for one year? If you're already a month or two after getting NOA1, maybe coordinating it now would be a good idea?

[Andy & Sue 31]

I thought police certificates were valid for one year? If you're already a month or two after getting NOA1, maybe coordinating it now would be a good idea?

It takes about 3 weeks to get a Police Certificate in the UK. Normally they are valid for 6 months but for US immigration purposes they are accepted up to 12 mths after issue. http://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

Edited January 27, 2012 by Andy & Sue

[Chris921 13]

if you go for the premium service it takes about 3 days if you send in everything in correctly (i didn't and the person doing it just called me and asked me to fax what else they needed over and that was the day after i sent it in)

[JLDNNYC 2]

It takes about 3 weeks to get a Police Certificate in the UK. Normally they are valid for 6 months but for US immigration purposes they are accepted up to 12 mths after issue. http://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

Thank you for this, much useful! I had another site bookmarked but this is really what I will need!

[JLDNNYC 2]

I thought police certificates were valid for one year? If you're already a month or two after getting NOA1, maybe coordinating it now would be a good idea?

You could be right. I was told to wait until I am told to get one but it seem like I could apply for it rather sooner than later:)