Receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) under Canada’s Express Entry system is a moment of celebration for thousands of aspiring immigrants every year. It means your profile has been selected from the pool, and you are now one step closer to becoming a permanent resident of Canada. However, this excitement often comes with a tight and unforgiving deadline: once you receive your ITA, you have only 60 days to submit a fully documented application for permanent residence (PR) to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
While 60 days may sound like a reasonable window, many candidates find themselves scrambling at the last minute — and in a significant number of cases, missing the deadline altogether. At Globalwings Visa Consultants, we have guided countless clients through this process, and our experience shows that one document, more than any other, is responsible for derailing applications: the police certificate.
In this article, we break down why this happens, what IRCC expects from you, and the practical steps you can take to make sure your application stays on track.
Understanding the 60-Day Deadline
Once IRCC issues an ITA, the clock starts immediately. Within this 60-day period, candidates must compile and submit a complete PR application, including all supporting documents — proof of funds, language test results, educational credential assessments, medical exams, and, critically, police certificates from every country where they have lived for six months or more since turning 18 (Canada is the only exception to this rule).
The purpose of the police certificate requirement is straightforward: IRCC needs to verify that an applicant does not have a criminal history that would make them inadmissible to Canada. But the process of actually obtaining these certificates is anything but straightforward. Some countries process requests within a matter of days. Others take weeks or even several months, depending on their bureaucratic systems, whether the request can be made online, and whether the applicant needs to be physically present to apply.
This mismatch between IRCC’s fixed 60-day window and the unpredictable timelines of foreign police and government agencies is, by far, the most common reason candidates fall behind schedule. IRCC itself has acknowledged this challenge and strongly advises candidates to begin the police certificate process the moment they enter the Express Entry pool — well before an ITA is even issued.
What Happens If You Can’t Get Your Police Certificate on Time?
If the 60-day deadline arrives and you still don’t have a required police certificate in hand, your application is not necessarily doomed — but you must act carefully. IRCC allows candidates in this situation to submit their application along with two supporting items in place of the actual certificate:
- A written letter of explanation, describing the situation and why the certificate could not be obtained in time.
- Documentary proof of genuine effort, showing that you made every reasonable attempt to secure the certificate before the deadline. This might include a payment confirmation, a tracking number for your request, an acknowledgment or receipt from the issuing authority, or written correspondence explaining the delay.
These documents should be uploaded in the country-specific police certificate section of your online document checklist. From there, an IRCC officer will review your explanation and evidence and decide, at their own discretion, whether your effort was sufficient. If the officer isn’t convinced that you made a genuine attempt, your file may be deemed incomplete and returned without further processing.
This is precisely why the quality and thoroughness of your supporting documentation matters so much — and it’s an area where professional guidance can make a real difference.
When It Might Be Better to Decline the ITA
In some cases, candidates realize they simply do not have enough supporting evidence to demonstrate a reasonable effort. If this happens, rather than risk a refusal, it may be strategically wiser to decline the ITA. Declining returns your profile to the Express Entry pool (as long as it hasn’t expired), giving you the chance to be considered again in a future draw. It’s not a guarantee of another invitation, but it preserves your standing rather than resulting in an outright rejection that could complicate future applications.
This is a nuanced decision that depends heavily on individual circumstances, and it’s exactly the kind of judgment call our advisors at Globalwings help clients navigate.
When a Country Requires an Official Request Letter from IRCC
A separate complication arises when the country where you’re requesting a police certificate insists on receiving an official request letter directly from IRCC before it will process your application. If you find yourself in this position, don’t panic — you can still meet your 60-day deadline.
Instead of the certificate itself, upload a document into the relevant checklist field simply stating that you are applying from a jurisdiction that requires an official IRCC request letter to issue the certificate. Once IRCC reviews your file and confirms it is otherwise complete, the department will follow up with further instructions on how to proceed in obtaining that certificate.
How to Actually Obtain a Police Certificate
The certificate itself may go by different names depending on where you’ve lived — a police clearance certificate, a certificate of good conduct, or a judicial record extract, among others. Regardless of terminology, the general process usually involves:
- Contacting the relevant local police department, national agency, or government office
- Paying an applicable processing fee
- Submitting photographs and/or fingerprints
- Providing a full residential history, including exact dates of residence in that country or region
IRCC maintains an official webpage listing country-specific instructions, which candidates should consult directly for the jurisdictions relevant to their case.
A few important rules to keep in mind:
- IRCC only accepts colour scans of original certificates — no certified copies or unofficial duplicates will be accepted, and submitting one could result in your application being rejected.
- If your certificate isn’t in English or French, you must submit both the original document and a certified translation.
How Long Are Police Certificates Valid?
Validity periods differ depending on your relationship to the country in question:
- For your current country of residence, the certificate must be dated no earlier than six months before you submit your PR application.
- For any country where you previously lived for six consecutive months or more after turning 18, the certificate must have been issued after the date you last resided there.
Given these tight windows, timing your requests correctly is just as important as making the requests at all.
Why Choose Globalwings Visa Consultants
Navigating Express Entry’s police certificate requirements — along with the dozens of other moving parts in a PR application — can be overwhelming, especially under strict time pressure. This is where Globalwings Visa Consultants makes the difference:
- Proactive Planning: We advise clients to initiate police certificate requests as soon as they enter the Express Entry pool, long before an ITA arrives, so the 60-day countdown never catches them off guard.
- Country-Specific Expertise: Our team stays current on the exact procedures, fees, and processing times for police certificates across dozens of countries, helping clients avoid unnecessary delays.
- Document Review and Quality Assurance: We carefully review every letter of explanation and supporting proof before submission, ensuring your file gives IRCC officers strong, credible evidence of genuine effort.
- Strategic Guidance: If a client’s situation calls for a tough decision — such as whether to decline an ITA rather than risk refusal — we provide honest, experience-based advice tailored to the individual case.
- End-to-End Application Support: From initial Express Entry profile creation to final PR submission, our consultants manage the process so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Transparent Communication: We keep clients informed at every stage, translating complex IRCC requirements into clear, actionable steps.
Thousands of qualified candidates lose valuable time — or their invitation altogether — simply because of avoidable delays in something as procedural as a police certificate. With the right guidance, this doesn’t have to be your story.
Get in Touch with Globalwings Visa Consultants
If you’ve recently received an ITA, or you’re preparing your Express Entry profile and want to get ahead of potential delays, our team is ready to help.
Call us: +91-9355339924
Email us: Info@globalwingsimmigrations.com
Let Globalwings Visa Consultants guide you through every step of your Canadian permanent residence journey — so a missed deadline never stands between you and your future in Canada
