A common reason Express Entry candidates miss their ITA deadline, and how to avoid it

Once an Express Entry candidate receives an invitation to apply (ITA), they must submit a complete application for permanent residence (PR) within 60 days, with all required documentation included.

Police certificates in particular can take a long time to obtain, and failure to do so before the 60-day countdown runs out can put your PR application in jeopardy.

See how competitive your Express Entry profile is

In fact, it’s one of the biggest deadline risks for Express Entry candidates after receiving an ITA.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requires Express Entry candidates to provide police certificates for every country they’ve lived in for six months or longer since turning 18—except Canada.

In most cases, this requires reaching out to the local police or government to request a certificate. Some countries will issue the police certificate within days; for others, it may take months.

As such, the immigration department has advised to “avoid delays by starting your police check as soon as you’re in the pool.”

Police certificates allow IRCC to check whether an applicant has a criminal record that could make them inadmissible to Canada.

What to do if you are unable to get a police certificate in time

All hope is not lost if you aren’t able to get your hands on the required police certificate(s) in time, especially if efforts to do so were made as early as possible.

IRCC is aware that this is a common obstacle for Express Entry candidates and has put measures in place to aid those facing this problem.

In such cases, candidates must provide the immigration department with two things:

A letter of explanation.
Proof that they made every reasonable effort to obtain the police certificate before the 60-day deadline.

Examples of acceptable proof may include a confirmation or payment receipt, delivery notice, tracking number, or correspondence from the issuing agency explaining the delay or why the certificate cannot be issued.

The letter of explanation and proof should be uploaded in the country-specific police certificate field of one's document checklist.

An immigration officer will assess the application and supporting evidence. Whether this documentation is accepted is at the discretion of the reviewing officer; if they are not satisfied that you took every reasonable step to secure the certificate, the application may be rejected due to incompleteness.

If you are unable to obtain the police certificate(s) in time and send in your application without providing this documentation, your application will be considered incomplete, which will result in it being refused for processing.

If you believe you do not have sufficient documentation to show reasonable efforts were made, the best course of action may be to decline the ITA.

Candidates who decline an ITA will have their profile returned to the Express Entry pool, provided it has not expired. They may be considered in future rounds, but another invitation is not guaranteed.

What to do if a country requires a request letter to issue a certificate

Some countries will not issue a police certificate unless the candidate provides an official request letter from IRCC.

If you run into this obstacle, you can still submit your PR application without it and meet the 60-day deadline but must provide specific documentation addressing the issue.

Simply upload a document that states “I am applying from a country that requires an official request letter from IRCC to get a police certificate” in the police certificate field of the document checklist.

IRCC will review your application and if it deems it to be otherwise complete, it will send you more information on how to obtain the police certificate.

How to get a police certificate

As previously mentioned, you will be required to reach out to the local police or government to ask for a police certificate.

Depending on the country or territory, they may be called something else, such as a police clearance certificate, good conduct certificate, or judicial record extract.

You may need to pay a fee and provide photographs, fingerprints, and a record of where you lived in the country or territory, including the dates of residence.

For country-specific information on how and where to get a police certificate, Express Entry candidates can visit IRCC’s official police certificate webpage and select the applicable jurisdiction.

It’s important to keep in mind that IRCC only accepts colour scans of original police certificates for Express Entry applications. Further, certified true copies and unauthorized copies will not be accepted by IRCC and will result in application rejection.

For police certificates that are not in English or French, candidates must include the original certificate and a translation from a certified translator.

How long is a police certificate valid?

IRCC has specific requirements surrounding certificate validity.

For one’s current country of residence, the certificate must have been issued no more than six months before the PR application is submitted.

For any country where a candidate previously lived for six consecutive months or more after turning 18, the police certificate must have been issued after their final period of residence there.

See how competitive your Express Entry profile is