Raj Sharma's Canadian Immigration Blog

FBI Clearance...

Prospective immigrants to Canada need to provide police clearances from every country in which they have resided in (6 months or more). In the case of US residents, this means both a state clearance (each state has its own procedure) AND a FBI clearance. Procedure for FBI Record Request follows:

NB The following is lifted in its entirety from: FBI Identification Record Request page.

Introduction 

An FBI Identification Record, often referred to as a Criminal History Record or Rap Sheet, is a listing of certain information taken from fingerprint submissions retained by the FBI in connection with arrests and, in some instances, federal employment, naturalization, or military service. If the fingerprints are related to an arrest, the Identification Record includes name of the agency that submitted the fingerprints to the FBI, the date of arrest, the arrest charge, and the disposition of the arrest, if known to the FBI. All arrest data included in an Identification Record is obtained from fingerprint submissions, disposition reports and other reports submitted by agencies having criminal justice responsibilities.

The United States Department of Justice Order 556-73 establishes rules and regulations for the subject of an FBI Identification Record to obtain a copy of his or her own Record for review. The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division processes these requests.

Reasons for Request

An individual may request a copy of his or her own FBI Identification Record for personal review or to challenge information on the Record. Other reasons an individual may request a copy of his or her own Identification Record may include international adoption or to satisfy a requirement to live or work in a foreign country (i.e., police certificate, letter of good conduct, criminal history background, etc.)

Can I request my own record for an employment background check?

If you are requesting a background check for employment or licensing within the United States, you may be required by state statute or federal law to submit your request through your state identification bureau, requesting federal agency or other authorized channeling agency. You should contact the agency requiring the background check or the appropriate state identification bureau (or state police) for the correct procedures to follow for obtaining an FBI fingerprint background check for employment or licensing purposes. 

Who May Request a Copy of Record

(or Proof that a Record Does Not Exist)

Only the subject of the identification record can request a copy of his own FBI Identification Record.

How to Request a Copy of Record

    1. Complete cover letter.

If for a couple, family, etc., all persons must sign cover letter 

Include your complete mailing address 

If you have a deadline (e.g., an immigration deadline), please include the deadline in your cover letter and on the outside of the envelope.

    2. Obtain proof of identity, which consists of a set of your fingerprints

         (original card, no copies), with your name, date of birth and place of

         birth. Fingerprints should be placed on a standard fingerprint form

         (FD-258) commonly used for applicant or law enforcement purposes.

Include rolled impressions of all ten fingerprints and impressions of all ten fingerprints taken simultaneously (these are sometimes referred to as plain or flat impressions.)

If possible have your fingerprints taken by a fingerprinting technician  (this service may be available at a Law Enforcement Agency.) 

Previously processed fingerprint cards will not be accepted. 

    3. Include $ 18 - U.S. dollars in the form of a money order, certified check

        made payable to the Treasury of the United States, or you may pay by

        credit card

Be sure to sign where required 

No personal checks or cash 

Must be exact amount 

If for a couple, family, etc., include $18 for each person

If paying by credit card you must include the completed credit card payment form 

Credit cards will not be used for expedited mail services 

    4. Mail the items #1, #2, #3 (listed above) to the following address:

        FBI CJIS Division – Record Request

         1000 Custer Hollow Road

         Clarksburg, West Virginia 26306

s.117(1)(h) - a mechanism of last resort...

Had to research an interesting regulation - s.117(1)(h) which allows someone to sponsor any relative regardless of age ... if the sponsor does not have a spouse, common law partner, conjugal partner, child, mother or father, a relative who is a child of that mother or father, a relative who is a child of a child of that mother or father, a mother or father of that mother or father or a relative who is a child of the mother or father of that mother or father - who is a Canadian citizen, Indian or permanent resident or whose application to enter and remain in Canada as a permanent resident the sponsor may otherwise sponsor...

Given my difficulties in parsing this section I turned to the case law. The following should be of assistance in determining whether an individual can rely on the regulation to sponsor someone that doesn't fit the confines of the 'family class':

http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/irb/doc/2006/2006canlii52296/2006canlii52296.html

http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/irb/doc/2005/2005canlii56945/2005canlii56945.html

http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/irb/doc/2006/2006canlii52301/2006canlii52301.html

Justice Gibson's decision in Nguyen here.

Looks like something that will only cross my desk once or twice during my time practicing law.

Cheema article...

The Calgary Herald published my article on Cheema on Friday (Article here), but unfortunately (without my knowledge or consent) they erroneously added a statement indicating that Narinder Pal Cheema was charged with his wife's murder (which is not the case). The Herald published a retraction in today's paper. I pointed out the error to the editor, noting that the article provided to the Herald did not indicate that Cheema was charged with the murder, only that he was detained and is considered the principal suspect by the authorities. Apparently the article was 'updated' with the statement that he was in fact charged.

Hopefully this sort of thing won't happen again - not only is it bad from a journalistic point of view - but it can also give rise to a claim for defamation...I guess the only thing I can ask is request the Herald to provide me with the final version of the article before publication so that I can verify the contents.

Immigration to Canada - Worth Waiting For?

Just read a recent article by Jay Somerset which discusses the plight of skilled workers waiting for their PR status:

Half of all skilled-worker applications take 55 months to be processed -- almost five years. Some take as many as 74 months.

Somerset quotes from a number of stakeholders in the debate, including immigration practitioners and those stuck in the seemingly endless queue. When asked for my opinion, I simply pointed out the frustrations of many of my own clients (note to the reader - I am not a former CIC officer, but a former Refugee Protection Officer from the Immigration and Refugee Board):

"People are giving up on Canada," says Raj Sharma, a former CIC officer who now practices immigration law in Calgary. "I've got a client from the U.K. who came here to study medicine. He passed his exams and is now working in the U.S. on a permit while he waits for his PR application to be processed. He's obviously qualified to live and work in Canada." Meanwhile, he notes, our doctor shortage persists.

My client (who is actually a doctor) from the UK continues to wait for a decision on his PR application - it's only been 36 months or so...he's also been requested to provide additional proof of his English language proficiency, even though he'd submitted both the General and Academic versions of the IELTS.

Unfortunately, with 800,000 immigrants 'in processing' this is not a problem that will be solved overnight. The fact that the immigration portfolio for both the present and previous government was a bit of a revolving door also does not bode well for the future health of the departmnet.

The article also contains a distressing comment by an unnamed CIC source:

"We're not in the business of customer service," said one immigration officer.

Unfortunate comment but clearly the unvarnished truth.