Will I need a police certificate in my situation?

[Ugoogli 2]

Hi there,

 

I am looking for some clarification regarding the police certificate situation, as two different pages on the Government website are seemingly giving two different answers.

 

My situation is that I am British and moved to Norway when I was 14 and then moved out of Norway 6 days after my 16th birthday. Will I still need to obtain a police record for these 6 days?

 

One page on the Government website states that it is, "Required for all countries where you have lived for more than 12 months since the age of 16" This makes me think that no I do not need it, as I had only lived in Norway for 6 days after my 16th birthday.

 

However another states it as, "Have lived in your country of current residence (if different from nationality) for more than 6 months" This is extremely vague as it does not state if these 6 months start on your 16th Birthday, or if it is 6 or more months total as long as you turned 16 during that time. Because I did live in Norway for more than 6 months, but not after my 16th Birthday.

 

I would appreciate clarification from people that have gone through the process.

 

Thank you for your help!

[Hawksquill 151]

Which specific pages on the website are you getting this info from?  The second quote, to me, sounds like it only applies if your current country of residence is different than your nationality (so like if you were a British citizen and still currently living in Norway as your country of residence).  But without the full context of where you're pulling the info, it's hard to judge. 

[geowrian 22,337]

They are separate requirements. If you meet any of them, you need a PCC.

No to Norway as you did not live there for a year or longer since age 16.

Yes to UK as you are currently living there (I'm assuming that's where you moved back to based on your timeline) for 6+ months.

 

25 minutes ago, Ugoogli said:

However another states it as, "Have lived in your country of current residence (if different from nationality) for more than 6 months" This is extremely vague as it does not state if these 6 months start on your 16th Birthday, or if it is 6 or more months total as long as you turned 16 during that time. Because I did live in Norway for more than 6 months, but not after my 16th Birthday.

Norway is not your current residence, so that doesn't apply.

Edited May 9, 2020 by geowrian

[Ugoogli 2]

1 minute ago, Hawksquill said:

Which specific pages on the website are you getting this info from?  The second quote, to me, sounds like it only applies if your current country of residence is different than your nationality (so like if you were a British citizen and still currently living in Norway as your country of residence).  But without the full context of where you're pulling the info, it's hard to judge. 

 

The first one came from the US Embassy in London's website: https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/family-immigration/required-documents/ 

 

The second came from the travel.state.gov website itself: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html

 

My immediate thought it that I wouldn't need it. However, my NVC application is still asking for a Norway police certificate.

[Ugoogli 2]

12 minutes ago, geowrian said:

They are separate requirements. If you meet any of them, you need a PCC.

No to Norway as you did not live there for a year or longer since age 16.

Yes to UK as you are currently living there (I'm assuming that's where you moved back to based on your timeline) for 6+ months.

 

Norway is not your current residence, so that doesn't apply.

Thank you for your reply. You are correct that I am currently living in the UK - I have this police certificate uploaded. However, the NVC website is still asking for a Norwegian police certificate.

[geowrian 22,337]

2 minutes ago, Ugoogli said:

Thank you for your reply. You are correct that I am currently living in the UK - I have this police certificate uploaded. However, the NVC website is still asking for a Norwegian police certificate.

The 2 options are to contact them and tell them that you were not in Norway for at least a year since you turned 16, or to provide a PCC anyway.

[Hawksquill 151]

2 minutes ago, Ugoogli said:

 

The first one came from the US Embassy in London's website: https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/family-immigration/required-documents/ 

 

The second came from the travel.state.gov website itself: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html

 

My immediate thought it that I wouldn't need it. However, my NVC application is still asking for a Norway police certificate.

The second link doesn't contradict the first one, if you're referring to the table under the police certificate section.  It's distinguishing between country of nationality and country of current residence just in case those two are different.  

 

So in your case, you are a UK national and have lived in the UK for more than six months, so yes you need a UK police report. 

 

You are not currently a resident of a country other than your country of nationality, so the second row of the table doesn't apply to you. 

 

The third row is actually more directly relevant to you, as it sounds like you lived in Norway for more than 12 months.  My interpretation of that row of the table is that it only applies if you lived in Norway for over a year after you turned 16.  Since you lived in Norway for over a year but only turned 16 a few days before leaving, I wouldn't say that applies to you.  If you wanted to be extra cautious you could get the certificate anyway, just so you have it.  And if an officer or RFE has told you to include it, you should get it. 

 

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[trusttheprocess 2]

We were also initially confused at first about this. You are not required to submit the Police Certificate. Our application also requested police certificates from the country of every address we've ever held. It seems to be an automatic request for all countries that you've ever lived in. But if you call or email them they will remove the requirement. OR potentially you can click "submit" and leave an explanation. 

 

You would only need the certificate if you are a National of that country, or you're currently living there, or you've lived there for more than 12 months. We didn't submit the certificates from the countries that didn't fall into the category (even though they requested them), and we got approved a few days ago.

 

I am only talking from personal experience. But what I'm trying to say is that even when they request documents, sometimes its in error.

 

I believe that in your situation it is required only if you would have lived in Norway for more than 12 months at anytime after the age of 16.

 

Hope this helps.