What do I do now to prepare?

[Delicia 1]

Do police checks have a time limit? Can my spouse start working on that or are we too far ahead?

Does he need to get a birth certificate translated into English (he was born in Chile, but is a Canadian PR)?

What are some of the other things that traditionally take a long time to gather/process that we should start investigating now? (He has no criminal record.)

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

Do police checks have a time limit? Can my spouse start working on that or are we too far ahead?

Does he need to get a birth certificate translated into English (he was born in Chile, but is a Canadian PR)?

What are some of the other things that traditionally take a long time to gather/process that we should start investigating now? (He has no criminal record.)

If he has no criminal record he can just go to his local police office and obtain a police check...make sure it's Canada wide (most police stations do a Canada wide search anyway) but just make sure. They usually take up a week to obtain and once he gets it, it should be good for one year. I would wait till a bit closer to you interview, considering he doesn't have a criminal record. If he did, I would start now as those take months to obtain. You need police checks from everywhere he has lived since he was 16. Some are easier to obtain than others.

I think his birth certificate does need to be translated in to English...I'm not 100% sure on that but I believe yes.

I'm sure someone else will have more info for you if there is other info you need to gather.

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

Ah, you are CR/1, I didn't see that...is he in the states with you already? Just ignore my post, I don't know if I gave you the right information..lol I thought you were K1.

CLICK HERE for the CR/1 step by step guide.

Smiles

~Laura

[Delicia 1]

No, he isn't in the U.S. with me; he is waiting it out in Toronto.

[trailmix 77]

Hi Delicia,

If you go to this page: Applicant Document Processing and choose MTL from the drop down, it will take you to a page where you can click on a link to see all of the civil documents that you will need.

I've put the list at the bottom of this post.

For the police certificate, you will be sending this to NVC when you submit your DS-230 (as well as all the other original documents that apply, below). So I would wait a few months for the police check, since it's not the fingerprint version it generally only takes a couple of weeks to obtain, so in theory you could wait until you get your NOA2 from USCIS - as once it gets to NVC you have to submit the DS-3032 and IV fee bill before they will send the DS-230.

I don't know if you have seen the NVC flowchart yet but it's handy dandy: NVC Process Flowchart

The documents required for the DS-230 are:

Birth Certificate

Court and Prison Records

Deportation Documentation

Marriage Certificate

Marriage Termination Documentation

Military Records

Photocopy of Valid Passport Biographic Data Page

Police Certificate(s)

Translations

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations.

The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that states that the:

Translation is accurate, and

Translator is competent to translate.

Edited October 28, 2007 by trailmix

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

See! Trailmix helped you so much more!!! LOL

[Flames9_RN 358]

The police background check is good for 1 year. No criminal record = NO fingerprinting. The police check is usually a very easy document to get, so no rush. Some police detachments it is same day service, others take a bit more, so no need to rush out and get it, especially how slow Mtl is,lol. And yes he will require a police background check from every country he has lived in since the age of 16 for 6 months or more. And like trailmix stated, the BC has to be translated into English. I know for Canadian its has to be the Long form birth certificate, meaning it has to have the parents listed on the birth cert. No clue if other countries have that option! Best of luck

[Delicia 1]

Thanks all! I think the BC will be the hardest part. I am going to send him to the Chilean consulate in Toronto and see if they will translate for him. He still has to get his Canadian PR card done. He never got one; he still has the 'landed immigrant' paper stapled in his passport.

[trailmix 77]

Thanks all! I think the BC will be the hardest part. I am going to send him to the Chilean consulate in Toronto and see if they will translate for him. He still has to get his Canadian PR card done. He never got one; he still has the 'landed immigrant' paper stapled in his passport.

Good point. That's something you will need to send a copy of (front and back) with the DS-230 as well.

Since I got an RFE for it and I'm now waiting for them to acknowledge that I have sent it (once by mail, once by email and again by courier this past Thursday) you think I would have included it in the list

Edited October 28, 2007 by trailmix

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Thanks all! I think the BC will be the hardest part. I am going to send him to the Chilean consulate in Toronto and see if they will translate for him. He still has to get his Canadian PR card done. He never got one; he still has the 'landed immigrant' paper stapled in his passport.

The quickest way is to get a hold of a provincially certified translator who will do it for you. Prices are circa .80 cents per word -- that's what I did and worked out just fine. Don't know if the Chilean Consulate will do it for free or how long it would take.

Good luck chica, L.