Getting a police check done if you’ve lived in more countries/ places than one

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Brightidea
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2021 1:10 pm

Getting a police check done if you’ve lived in more countries/ places than one

Post by Brightidea »

Hi. I’ve signed a contract with a school and they’ve asked for the criminal record check, as they would. I currently live in Canada for the past two years and I want to apply for the 5 year criminal record check in my city (city 1) but I’ve lived in China for about three years within the last 5 years. In the application they ask for addresses within the last 5 years. Do I put the China address? I don’t want to lie but I also don't want unnecessary headaches. I’ve had a similar issue before where I lived in a different city (city 2) for sometime and the police (city 1) wanted my police check from the other city (city 2) before they would give me one. Has anyone had a similar issue? Please let me know what I should do? Also, would getting my police check done through the rcmp any better in my case?
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: Getting a police check done if you’ve lived in more countries/ places than one

Post by sid »

Be honest and thorough. If your police check reveals any inconsistencies or concerns, including missing or misleading information, your new school can cancel your contract.
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: Getting a police check done if you’ve lived in more countries/ places than one

Post by sid »

You might find that you need to also get a police clearance from China. Instructions on applying from abroad can be found here - looks tricky : https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... epublic-of

Ask your new school whether this will be necessary.

For anyone else out there, here is a case in point why you should always obtain a police clearance as you are leaving a country. They are often much harder to get once you have left. And schools are increasingly insisting on having them.
Brightidea
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2021 1:10 pm

Re: Getting a police check done if you’ve lived in more countries/ places than one

Post by Brightidea »

Hi. Thank you for the reply.

The school asked me to get a police clearance from my passport country. To be honest, I’m not that concerned about the school cancelling my contract, I am, however, concerned about obtaining a clearance check from the police by essentially saying to the police that I have been living in Canada at the same address for the whole duration of 5 years instead of also mentioning the China address. In a case like this, is RCMP clearance check going to be better or worse? I guess they would still ask my address for the past 5 years as well? How does it usually work, do people give their clearance checks from other countries (like China) to the police in their home countries before getting a clearance (full 5 years) from their home country?

You are absolutely right, I was always going to get the clearance check towards the end of my contract but I was in my home country, on vacation, when the pandemic hit. I’ve been here since and never got the chance to go back and get my Chinese clearance.
mysharona
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:25 am

Re: Getting a police check done if you’ve lived in more countries/ places than one

Post by mysharona »

sid wrote:
> You might find that you need to also get a police clearance from China.
> Instructions on applying from abroad can be found here - looks tricky :

Based on my recent experience with getting a police check in China this would be an almost impossible task considering the amount of paperwork, time and energy it requires. That is unless you had the full cooperation of your previous school and they agreed to take it on for you, which is what happened to colleagues of mine that didn't return after the initial lockout and needed clearance letters in order to move on.
Asteger
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2020 2:53 am

Re: Getting a police check done if you’ve lived in more countries/ places than one

Post by Asteger »

China: Each province (or Tier 1 city) will have a different way of going about their police checks, and at this point I still have not heard of a national check. Technically, if you have lived in more than province/jurisdiction then you should have a check for each place.

I was outside of China about 2 years ago, and when I inquired through an agent was told I could get a check from that province (trustworthy agent), but would have to send my passport. No idea if it would be possible to get checks from other parts of the country in this way from outside of the country - if you'd want to take that chance - or if it would be impossible. My feeling is you'd have to be here in almost every case and what I heard before was an exception (and I think no longer possible).
Brightidea
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2021 1:10 pm

Re: Getting a police check done if you’ve lived in more countries/ places than one

Post by Brightidea »

I may be able to get the police check from China. I will try, let’s suppose I do get it, or have it already, translated as well. My question is, do I still show that I lived in China for x amount of time to the police in my home country because they ask for a 5 year address history. Would they give me a police check if I show them the Chinese police check? Is there anything else I need to get done (like authenticate to be used in Canada) before they will accept the Chinese police check, even if they will eventually accept it? I fear that they won’t even give me a police check if I haven’t lived in the same address for the whole duration of 5 years, or at least in the country.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

In direct reply to your most recent query:

1) Yes, you give them the addresses in China. They will access international databases to see if there is any criminal history.

2) Yes, you will receive a CRB. You may obtain the CRB from CAN for any length of time. You do not have to have been resident in CAN for 5 years immediately proceeding your request for the CRB.

3) There is no need to submit the Chinese CRB unless and until requested by the CAN authorities or the horsemen.
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