Police certificates

[Jughead 3]

My fiancée and I will be getting married in January in Japan. I will be filling the I-130 petition for a CR-1 visa for her as soon as I return to the US.

She knows that she will need to obtain police certificates. The ones from Japan shouldn't be difficult, but she will need to obtain a certificate from Canada as she had spent a year there studying.

I found information online as to how to obtain a police certificate from Canada if you are abroad from this link: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cr-cj/fing-empr2-eng.htm

Here are my questions:

1) If I am filing the petition in January, how far in advance should my fiancée start obtaining the police certificates? Is now a good idea or should she wait until after I file?

2) How long does it generally take to obtain a police certificate from Canada? I've read some people on here say it's 8-10 weeks. But my fiancée saw someone on a blog say it took them 150 days, so she's concerned.

3) My fiancée has lived in different areas of Japan. Does she need a police certificate from each location she's lived in Japan?

Thank you.

[Jughead 3]

Feedback anyone?

[Ryan H 3,812]

Answers:

1. Police certificates usually have limited validity, so it's probably a good idea that she not try obtain them until after you have filed the petition. They will not be needed until the file reaches the NVC anyway.

2. Since this requires a Canada specific answer, I posted a link to your thread in the Canada regional forum; hopefully someone will be by to answer your question.

3. Same as #2 except replace Canada with Japan in the fist half and Asia: East and Pacific for the regional forum I posted a link to your thread in.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Police certificates are issued by the RCMP if filing from out of the country

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

see the link below on how to obtain one from outside of Canada. I would start by contacting the Canadian consulate in Japan.

Good luck

[amberlynnloves 125]

My fiance and I went to the local police department in the Niagara Region. It was $40 they gave it to us 10 minutes later. Call your local police department and ask them. For K1 visas you do NOT need to get fingerprints done. It only takes a few minutes to run your name through the system.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

My fiance and I went to the local police department in the Niagara Region. It was $40 they gave it to us 10 minutes later. Call your local police department and ask them. For K1 visas you do NOT need to get fingerprints done. It only takes a few minutes to run your name through the system.

OP's wife seems to be from Japan, so there isn't a local police dept.

Good luck

[Canadiandggal 49]

I had my fingerprints done at the local police station (In PA) then sent the forms to the rcmp in canada. From the time I sent the forms to the time I got the police certificate was 60 days.

I suggest you wait a little while but knowing where to go and who to send it to would be a good thing to know

[Krikit 1,164]

From all accounts, the RCMP fingerprint process from outside Canada is unnecessarily long. Everyone who has used the Commissionaires (link below) gives positive feedback. Still others have just flown back to Canada to take care of it in person.

http://www.commissionaires.ca/

For K1 visas you do NOT need to get fingerprints done. It only takes a few minutes to run your name through the system.

Just wanted to correct the above misinformation. Fingerprints ARE required if there is a criminal record.

[amberlynnloves 125]

From all accounts, the RCMP fingerprint process from outside Canada is unnecessarily long. Everyone who has used the Commissionaires (link below) gives positive feedback. Still others have just flown back to Canada to take care of it in person.

http://www.commissionaires.ca/

Just wanted to correct the above misinformation. Fingerprints ARE required if there is a criminal record.

Ok yes, in the event there IS criminal record. But regular basis, not.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Here is how she can obtain the fingerprint checks from the RCMP:

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

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cr-cj/c216-eng.htm

and here is their posted processing time - it appears to be about 9 weeks if there are no problems:

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cr-cj/time-temps-eng.htm

As krikit mentioned, fingerprint security documents do tend to take longer than expected so I would allow for 3 months at least.

[Jughead 3]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Just to make sure, I as the American citizen don't need to submit fingerprints/police certificates correct?

If anyone can still weigh in on my 3rd question (copied below) it would be appreciated. My fiancée is a Japanese citizen.

"3) My fiancée has lived in different areas of Japan. Does she need a police certificate from each location she's lived in Japan?"

[Krikit 1,164]

No, you don't need fingerprints or police certificates. If you have committed a crime, however, that is a different story.

In Canada the police check is valid for the entire country. You may find that's the case in Japan also. Your fiancee will either want to take a look at what it says on the Japanese law enforcement sites, or you can do a search or ask the question in the Japan regional forum.