Use the appropriate visa office Document Checklist, which you can find in Part 3: Country Specific Instructions to assist you in gathering the necessary documentation.
You and your family members who are 18 years of age and older and are not permanent residents or Canadian citizens must provide:
These documents are to be provided for each country other than Canada, in which you have lived for six (6) consecutive months or longer since reaching the age of 18.
Note: If you or your family members were under 18 years of age (16 years of age in certain jurisdictions) for the entire time you lived in a particular country, you do not need to provide a police certificate for that country.
The certificate must have been issued no more than three (3) months prior to submitting your application. If the original certificate is not in English or French, then you will need to submit both the certificate and the original copy of the translation prepared by an accredited translator.
We will also do our own background checks to determine if there are grounds under which you and your dependants may be inadmissible to Canada.
For specific and up-to-date information, please consult How to get a police certificate (police check).
It is your responsibility to contact the relevant authorities.
Certificates are usually issued by the police of the country concerned, but in some countries you will have to apply to municipal, provincial, federal or other government authorities. The country’s embassy or consulate in Canada may be able to give additional information.
When applying for police certificates, you should include for each person:
Include the police certificates with your application.
If you cannot get police certificates from any of the countries where you have lived, you must provide a written explanation with your application and an original letter from the police authority confirming that they will not issue a certificate.
Generally, persons with a criminal conviction are not admitted into Canada. However, if a prescribed period has passed after they have completed their sentence or committed an offence and during which they were not convicted of a subsequent offence, they may be deemed to have been rehabilitated.
If they are not deemed to have been rehabilitated, they may, under special circumstances, be eligible to apply for rehabilitation.
If you were convicted of or committed a criminal offence outside Canada, you may overcome this criminal inadmissibility
If the offence is one that would, in Canada, be prosecuted summarily, and if you were convicted for two (2) or more such offences, the period for rehabilitation is at least five (5) years after the sentences imposed were served or are to be served.
If you have a criminal conviction in Canada, you must seek a record suspension (formerly a pardon) from the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) before you will be admissible to Canada.
You can request a Record Suspension Application Guide or additional information from:
Parole Board of Canada
Clemency and Record Suspension Division
410 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R1
Telephone: 1-800-874-2652 (Callers in Canada and the United States only)
Fax: 1-613-941-4981
Email: suspension@pbc-clcc.gc.ca
Website: http://pbc-clcc.gc.ca/index-eng.shtml
(The instructional guide and application forms can be downloaded from the website)
In order to be considered for a record suspension under the Criminal Records Act, a specified period of time must pass after the end of the sentence imposed. The sentence may have been payment of a fine, period of probation, or imprisonment.
If you applied for a new temporary resident visa, or a study or temporary work…
Today, I’m here to share some of the results of that ongoing work, and the…
To ensure the temporary residents we welcome to Canada can be supported adequately, the Honourable…
Upload a file The form could not be submitted because errors were found. Error: We…
Ottawa—Canada is a top destination for international students, thanks to our high-quality educational institutions; our welcoming,…
How we calculated this processing time This processing time tells you how long it took…