National Police Check Rejected (Second Time!)

[Gray & Hockey 1]

Hi All,

 

I realize someone posted about having this issue back in January, but given all that's happened this year, I thought I might try again. The NVC has approved all of my Australian husband and I's documents, except for the National Police Check. They rejected our first upload October 20th, and it took nearly a month for my husband to get fingerprints done, mail them off, have them reviewed, and then a new PC mailed back to him. He uploaded a new National Police Check (Full Disclosure and matches exactly what the CEAC asked for) on November 18th, but they've rejected it again with no further explanation. Someone before had mentioned writing in the document comments that we did, in fact, upload exactly what was requested and available according to the Australian Federal Police (the issuing authority), but I wondered if anyone had luck with any other method? This is beyond devastating, really, and just feels incredibly helpless. What else can you do but follow the directions you're given??

 

**Note: We have an immigration attorney who is helping us, but she's not sure why this is happening either! 

[HRQX 4,145]

34 minutes ago, Gray & Hockey said:

and then a new PC mailed back to him.

Did he choose category Code ‘33’ – Immigration/Citizenship – for supply to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection?

[Gray & Hockey 1]

22 hours ago, HRQX said:

Did he choose category Code ‘33’ – Immigration/Citizenship – for supply to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection?

I asked! He can't remember which one he selected now as it was over a month ago that he sent it off! When I looked on the AFP website, I saw there is one purpose that says 33 - Immigration/Citizenship – for supply to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and another right after that says 35 - Other / Visa's (outside Australia).

 

Is 33 correct? If so, that's extremely misleading, but we'll resubmit if that's the case/the reason it wasn't accepted.

 

 

[HRQX 4,145]

3 minutes ago, Gray & Hockey said:

Is 33 correct?

Yes, select "33."

 

 

[Gray & Hockey 1]

4 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Yes, select "33."

 

 

Thank you so much. I really wish this wasn't so painful and unclear but I really appreciate you sharing this.

[Gray & Hockey 1]

On 12/5/2020 at 11:44 AM, Gray & Hockey said:

Thank you so much. I really wish this wasn't so painful and unclear but I really appreciate you sharing this.

Hey there,

 

Just an update, we selected code 33 this time, it took about a month to get the new police check back, and... the top of this document, it says "Immigration/Citizenship - Name Check Only," which doesn't seem to match other photos of police checks I've seen. At this point, I have no earthly idea what to select to get the one that says "Complete Disclosure?" We've followed the directions to a 'T.'

 

HELP! 😰

On 12/4/2020 at 1:11 PM, HRQX said:

Did he choose category Code ‘33’ – Immigration/Citizenship – for supply to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection?

Hey there,

 

Just an update, we selected code 33 this time, it took about a month to get the new police check back, and... the top of this document, it says "Immigration/Citizenship - Name Check Only," which doesn't seem to match other photos of police checks I've seen. At this point, I have no earthly idea what to select to get the one that says "Complete Disclosure?" We've followed the directions to a 'T.'

 

HELP! 😰

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, Gray & Hockey said:

Hey there,

 

Just an update, we selected code 33 this time, it took about a month to get the new police check back, and... the top of this document, it says "Immigration/Citizenship - Name Check Only," which doesn't seem to match other photos of police checks I've seen. At this point, I have no earthly idea what to select to get the one that says "Complete Disclosure?" We've followed the directions to a 'T.'

 

HELP! 😰

 

You could try calling AFP and ask why they didn't issue one saying full disclosure.

[Gray & Hockey 1]

On 1/13/2021 at 7:59 PM, HRQX said:

You could try calling AFP and ask why they didn't issue one saying full disclosure.

Thank you, we'll have to try that. I don't know what else we can do and can't believe in 2021 that this is the process.

[AndyS 0]

On 1/15/2021 at 3:47 PM, Gray & Hockey said:

Thank you, we'll have to try that. I don't know what else we can do and can't believe in 2021 that this is the process.

Hi we are having the same problem. We applied with 35 first and they rejected it. Now with 33 and they rejected it. We followed the instructions correctly. Any luck? Any updates? Thank you, Andy 

[Gray & Hockey 1]

On 1/25/2021 at 7:53 PM, AndyS said:

Hi we are having the same problem. We applied with 35 first and they rejected it. Now with 33 and they rejected it. We followed the instructions correctly. Any luck? Any updates? Thank you, Andy 

Andy, I DM'd you, but for anyone else curious, the AFP changed their documentation in December 2020 just slightly so that the titles of the documents no longer say "Complete Disclosure" at the top. I believe this might be why ours has been rejected, which is frustrating because that is 100% a bureacratic problem of two entities just not communicating with each other.

 

I contacted the AFP and US Consulate by email and asked them to both confirm in writing that we had the write document, and I also took a screenshot of the AFP website page where they make note that their documents have changed. Our lawyers then put all of that together with a cover letter and the police check an resubmitted asking for a supervisor review on Jan 26.

 

On Feb 2 we got a notice that it was "rejected" but when I called the NVC today, they said that actually it's still being reviewed and we should hear back in coming weeks. FWIW, if this one gets rejected, we're going to try the expedite route. This has been going on for months and we're exhausted.

[juzasking 1]

Hi @AndyS & @Gray & Hockey

 

I also had this issue when filing and had the same document rejected twice before getting it approved the third time. 

Before re-submitting the document, I added a comment "police certificate attached as per their reciprocal documents instructions as listed within both the Sydney consulate website and NVC instructions" a tip from another vj user.  

 

Hope that helps!

 

 

[Aky Aky 0]

On 2/4/2021 at 5:46 PM, Gray & Hockey said:

Andy, I DM'd you, but for anyone else curious, the AFP changed their documentation in December 2020 just slightly so that the titles of the documents no longer say "Complete Disclosure" at the top. I believe this might be why ours has been rejected, which is frustrating because that is 100% a bureacratic problem of two entities just not communicating with each other.

 

I contacted the AFP and US Consulate by email and asked them to both confirm in writing that we had the write document, and I also took a screenshot of the AFP website page where they make note that their documents have changed. Our lawyers then put all of that together with a cover letter and the police check an resubmitted asking for a supervisor review on Jan 26.

 

On Feb 2 we got a notice that it was "rejected" but when I called the NVC today, they said that actually it's still being reviewed and we should hear back in coming weeks. FWIW, if this one gets rejected, we're going to try the expedite route. This has been going on for months and we're exhausted.

Hi Andy and Grag&Hockey

 

My sis AFP Police Certificate is 'Rejected' - she used code 33 (she used the wrong code 35 before also) so this was her second time but it came back 'Rejected' again. Were you able to resolve the issue? Do you mind sharing how you got through it? 

 

Thanks

Aky

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Aky Aky
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[JannaB 5]

NVC REJECTED AUSTRALIAN POLICE  CERTIFICATE- We are having same issue with AFP certificate rejected by NVC.  Hubby did NOT check box 33. He chose box 35.

 

For those who’ve been through this, did you finally succeed by checking box 33 “immigration/citizenship - Australia “?  

Or, what can you say to advise us?

 

This whole process is getting SO VERY FRUSTRATING because NVC doesn’t explain clearly exactly and precisely what’s wrong with what we sent and which specific certificate they actually want.  
 

Please help by replying.  We think we should go ahead, pay additional fee for new certificate and choose Box 33.  Do you agree?  

Edited June 17, 2022 by JannaB
Typo

[Gray & Hockey 1]

12 minutes ago, JannaB said:

NVC REJECTED AUSTRALIAN POLICE  CERTIFICATE- We are having same issue with AFP certificate rejected by NVC.  Hubby did NOT check box 33. He chose box 35.

 

For those who’ve been through this, did you finally succeed by checking box 33 “immigration/citizenship - Australia “?  

Or, what can you say to advise us?

 

This whole process is getting SO VERY FRUSTRATING because NVC doesn’t explain clearly exactly and precisely what’s wrong with what we sent and which specific certificate they actually want.  
 

Please help by replying.  We think we should go ahead, pay additional fee for new certificate and choose Box 33.  Do you agree?  

Hi All 

 

Sorry, I haven't been on here in some time, but just as an update: We did finally get approved, but it was a headache. I ultimately had to personally email the Australian Federal Police and get them to confirm in writing that we had the right type of police check. They had recently made slight changes to the form that the NVC was not aware of, which is why it kept getting rejected. I also emailed the US Consulate a copy of the police check and they also said in writing that that was the one they were looking for.

 

I then submitted the new police check along with corroborating documents from the AFP and US Consulate (I literally made PDFs of the emails and highlighted the parts where they said it was right) confirming that we did in fact have the right one. Our documents were sent for a supervisor review, and at first it said rejected again but in actuality it was just being reviewed. Once a supervisor actually looked and saw we were right, it was finally approved. We also then applied for an expedite request citing financial hardship (my husband was stuck in Australia and couldn't really start a new job while await an outcome on his immigration status), and we also cited administrative delay and pointed out that we'd had to submit the paperwork 3 times even though it had been correct the entire time. We were approved for an expedited interview and my husband got his interview appointment date within a few days. From there, it was smooth sailing but I will never forgive the NVC for making this process unnecessarily painful over a single form. It appears that, almost a year later, they still haven't address this problem.

[JannaB 5]

Thank you so much for your quick reply!! We only just found out four hours ago, this morning our time, where we are now in Taiwan. And so we are anxious to move along on this because due to the pandemic and a lot of delays, bureaucracy getting original copies of the required documents for the immigration visa application, it took two full years to submit all required documents . And we’ve had to extend our stay in Taiwan and renew a house lease into Dec 2022.

 

I think we made the mistake of not reading very very closely the travel.state.gov directions for Australia.

 

We probably did not select “purpose type” and “Commonwealth employment/purpose” and then we checked code 35 instead of code 33 “Immigration/citizenship – for supply to the department of immigration and border protection.” All this is written in the Reciprocity Schedule for Australia on the Travel.State.Gov website.

 

Do you think that’s what we need to do? Do we need to bother with fingerprints?

That will just add another level of frustration. However, I think we know how to do it. My husband is English but he lived in UK, Australia, Canada, UK and Taiwan needed police checks for all four.  He did need fingerprints for Canada.Only the Australia background check was rejected. I think it must be because we did not choose the right code.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by JannaB
Typo