Applying for permanent residence from within Canada: Spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (IMM 5289)

Security requirements

You and your family members (spouse/common-law partner and dependent children) must not be any risk to Canada. You and all your family members aged 18 and over who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents must undergo background checks. This applies even to your family members outside Canada, whether or not they intend to join you here.

For each country in which you or your family members have lived for more than six months during the past 10 years, you must provide a police certificate, clearance or record of no information. If you or your family members were under 18 years of age when you lived there, you do not need to provide a police certificate. It is your responsibility to contact the police or relevant authorities.

We will also do our own background checks to determine if you have any arrests or criminal convictions, or if you are a security risk to Canada.

How to apply for police certificates

STEP 1. CONSULT THE TABLES BELOW

For the following countries, police certificates should not be obtained before applying for immigration. You may receive special instructions at a later date about police certificates for these countries.

• Afghanistan
• Costa Rica
• Fiji
• French Polynesia
• Honduras
• Hong Kong
• Poland
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• Thailand
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• Venezuela

If you have lived in South Korea, you will need additional forms before applying for immigration. If you do not have the forms, phone the Call Centre and we will mail them to you.

STEP 2. APPLY FOR CERTIFICATES
Certificates are usually issued by the police of the country concerned, but in some countries you will have to apply to municipal, provincial, federal or other government authorities. The country’s embassy or consulate may be able to give additional information.

When applying for police certificates, you must include for each person:

• a completed Request for Police Certificates/Clearances and Authorization for Release of Information form (Appendix A). (Make enough photocopies for everyone.)
• a set of fingerprints, if required
• your complete return mailing address (certificates will be sent directly to you)

STEP 3. PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION
You may have to provide fingerprints, photos or a letter from Canadian immigration authorities explaining why you need a police certificate. Your local police or RCMP may be able to tell you where you can get fingerprints taken.

Take Appendix B and your photo identification (passport, travel document, etc.) with you when you go to get fingerprints taken. You may have to pay a fee.

STEP 4. SUBMIT THE CERTIFICATES
Include the police certificates and any supplementary forms with your application.

• If the police authorities notify you that they will submit the certificates directly to us, include this notice with your application.
• All police certificates must be originals; photocopies are not acceptable.
• If your certificates are in a language other than English or French, attach an original translation prepared by an accredited translator.

What if I cannot get the police certificates?

If you cannot get police certificates from any of the countries on the lists, you must provide a written explanation with your application and an original letter from the police authority confirming that they will not issue a certificate.

Criminal convictions

Inside Canada

If you or any of your dependent children have a conviction in Canada, you must seek a pardon from the National Parole Board before applying for permanent resident status. For further information, contact:

Clemency and Pardons Division
National Parole Board
410 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1A 0R1
Telephone: 1-800-874-2652 (callers in Canada and the United States only)
Website: www.npb-cnlc.gc.ca (application guide and forms can be downloaded from the site)

Outside Canada

People with criminal convictions are usually not admitted into Canada. However, if a certain number of years have passed since the offence was committed, during which you or your family member were not convicted of another offence, you or your family member may be deemed rehabilitated.

You must provide police certificates or clearances and a full description of the circumstances surrounding the offence and the court record. This information will be reviewed and you will receive further instructions.

Consult the table below to determine how many years must have passed before you can be deemed rehabilitated.

The following table gives a summary of the type of offences and length of rehabilitation periods.

Conviction or offence	Rehabilitation period
	When deemed rehabilitated1	When eligible to apply for rehabilitation
Conviction of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be an indictable offence punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than ten years	At least ten years after completion of the sentence imposed	Five years after completion of the sentence imposed
Commission of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be an indictable offence punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than ten years	At least ten years after commission of the offence	Five years after commission of the offence
Conviction or commission of an offence outside Canada, that, if committed in Canada, would be punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more	Not applicable	Five years from completion of the sentence or commission of the offence
Conviction for two or more offences outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute summary conviction offences	At least five years after the sentences imposed were served or to be served	Not applicable
Conviction for two or more summary conviction offences in Canada	At least five years after the sentences imposed were served or to be served	Must apply for a pardon
Conviction for two or more indictable offences in Canada	Not applicable	Must apply for a pardon

¹The person must not have committed or been convicted of a subsequent offence.

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