cama24687910@hotmail.com wrote:Hi,
My family and I are just about to start the Skilled Worker Route, and would be grateful of help with regard police checks. Due to being in the British Army my family and I have lived in Cyprus and Germany as well as the UK. We understand we need police checks for each country but are at a loss as to where to start, especailly with Cyprus and Germany.
How long in advance can we do them?
Does anyone have a simple guide to follow in order to get them?
We currently live in Scotland. I'd be grateful for any help or advice.
Thanks
IDC 
here is my personal experience. you can judge it yourself. the following is in order:
i have lived in the following country:
hong kong 17 years
canada 6 years
scotland 3 years
ireland 5 years
i applied the canadian pr in year 2004 january. i submitted my application without medical and police certs. here is the first rule. do not do any medical until the canadian embassy ask you to do it. second thing, you can go get your police certs done while you are waiting for the canadian embassy to ask you to do it. i know, some people might say if you do your police certs, by the time the immigration officer look at your file, if your police certs is out of date. they will ask you to do it again.
i dont know what is out of date and what is not. i lived in 4 countries. the longest it took to get the police cert was canada because the RCMP is very busy with all the criminal checks after 911. it took the RCMP about 6 months to release my criminal record checks from canada. hong kong, uk and ireland is fast. it only took them one month before they release my records. i have sent all my police certs to the canadian embassy in london around august 2004.
my adivce to you is, get the police certs done now and send it over to the canadian embassy while you waiting. you siad you living in scotland now. and you were living in germany and cyprus before. if you get the police certs done now and you havent gone back to live in germany and cyprus after you submitted you canadian pr application and before the immigration officer to make a decision on it. the immigration officer would take that into consideration i am sure. plus, if you have move country before they make a decision in your case, you have to let them know anyway. so if you havent been back to germany and cyprus since you submitted your application. my advice to you is get the police certs done now and send it to the embassy and explain to them that you have not been back in germany and cyprus to live.
in my case, i lived in canada for 6 years in 90s and i have not been back into canada since i left in 1998. if i get a police cert done. and you think the immigration officer will care if i have never been back to canada after i left and the rcmp criminal checks came back and showing that i have a clean record in canada?
i know it can be a long wait for certain application. just be patient. i remembered that i recevied a letter from the canadian embassy down in london saying that they will not process my application further for another 21 months in november 2004 since i submitted my application at jan 2004. surprisely, in november 2005, the canadian embassy in london asked me to submit my medical exam in dublin. i got my visa paper granted in jan 2006. it was not like they told me that i have to wait for another 21 months before they reply to me previously. once when they asked you to go to do medical exam. you wont be far from getting the permannet residency.
i shouldnt say canadian embassy in london, i should have said canadian high commission instead. so just ignore the term canadian embassy i used above;)
hope you understand what i said and judge it by yourself. so good luck
