Do we need a police certificate?

[KnowledgeIsPower 2]

My wife was born in Syria, and immigrated when she was 5 years old. She is a naturalized citizen of Canada and has lived there ever since.

Will she need to obtain a police certificate from Syria? She left the country at age 5, before legal age. Also given the political instability in Syria right now, there is no way for us to obtain documentation (there are international sanctions on mail in and out of Syria, and both Canadian and US embassies are closed). Even if we were somehow able to get the document out of the country, getting the certificate is near-impossible as government offices aren't operational.

Will a police certificate from Canada be enough?

Edited March 20, 2012 by KnowledgeIsPower

[BBCC 16]

I hope the following link to state.gov will be helpful:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3195.html

Near the bottom of this page there is a table that states ONLY if you "lived in a different country for more than 12 months" AND "you were 16 years or older at that time" are you required to obtain a police certificate for a country in which you have lived.

Based on this information, it would appear you do not need one for Syria. Please review this information to be sure but you should be OK without a Syria police certificate.

Edited March 20, 2012 by BBCC

[TimeTravel 78]

No, she doesn't need PCC from Syria.

Canada PCC is more than enough.

[KnowledgeIsPower 2]

I hope the following link to state.gov will be helpful:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3195.html

Near the bottom of this page there is a table that states ONLY if you "lived in a different country for more than 12 months" AND "you were 16 years or older at that time" are you required to obtain a police certificate for a country in which you have lived.

Based on this information, it would appear you do not need one for Syria. Please review this information to be sure but you should be OK without a Syria police certificate.

That's great, thank you!