Document · Police clearance
The police clearance certificate Canada asks for
It does not expire after six months. The rule that produces that belief is about something else, and getting it right can save an applicant a repeat trip to the counter.
The short answer
An Indian police clearance certificate does not expire six months after it is issued. IRCC requires the certificate for the country you currently live in to have been issued within six months of applying, and a certificate for a country you have left to have been issued after you last lived there for six consecutive months or more. The second has no time limit.
Where the six-month rule comes from, and what it actually says
IRCC's requirement is about when the certificate was issued, not about how long it stays alive afterwards. It has two tiers, and which one applies to you depends on where you are living when you apply.
The country you live in now
- issued no more than 6 months before the date you submit the application, for the country you currently live in
- So an applicant still in Gujarat has a real six-month window to work inside
- IRCC can ask for an updated certificate at any point while it processes the file
A country you have left
- issued after the last time you lived there for 6 consecutive months or longer since you turned 18, for a country you have left
- No expiry applies at all, however long ago it was issued
- So a Gujarati now in Canada keeps using the certificate they got on the way out
If your certificate has an expiry printed on it
Where a country prints an expiry date on its certificate, IRCC still accepts it if it was issued after the last stay of 6 consecutive months or longer and is not for the country the applicant currently lives in.
Two more things IRCC does not ask for, which are worth knowing before you pay for anything: you need no certificate for any period before you turned 18, and none for time spent in Canada.
Where IRCC will take one from
Four authorities, treated equally. There is no hierarchy among them and no requirement to use a particular one, which is worth knowing because agents sometimes insist on a specific route and charge for arranging it.
the local district police station
a passport office
an Indian embassy or consulate
a BLS International centre
IRCC also notes that the format of the certificate differs by issuing authority, so two certificates that look nothing like each other can both be correct. What matters is who issued it and what it covers, not whether it matches a specimen someone showed you.
What gets a certificate refused, and what gets the application rejected
These are the three failures IRCC names, and the last one is more serious than it looks.
- a character certificate, which IRCC does not accept in place of a police clearance certificate
- a certificate limited to one jurisdiction or one period, which IRCC does not accept
- a certified true copy or any unauthorised copy, which causes the application to be rejected rather than delayed
Do not have your documents attested
IRCC wants a colour scan of the original certificate. A certified true copy or a notarised copy causes the application to be rejected, which means returned rather than decided, and that is a worse outcome than a refusal because nothing has been assessed.
This one catches Gujarati families more than most, and for an understandable reason. Attesting and notarising copies is how documents are submitted to almost every Indian authority, so a family that has everything carefully attested has done the thoughtful thing and the fatal thing at once.
The character certificate is the other common trap, and it is easy to walk into: ask a police station in Gujarat for "police clearance" and a character certificate is often what you are handed. It is a different document and IRCC does not accept it.
When to apply for it
It depends on which application you are making, and the difference is large enough to change what you should do this month.
Permanent residence
Always required, for every country you have lived in for six months or more since turning 18. An Express Entry candidate has 60 days from the invitation to file everything, so this is a document to start before the invitation rather than after it.
Study and work permits
Only where IRCC asks for one, and it will ask if you declared a criminal record on the application. Students obtain one they were never asked for surprisingly often, at their own cost and delay.
The 60-day clock is the reason this document sinks otherwise strong Express Entry files. It runs from the invitation, it covers every document at once, and a certificate that has to be obtained from a country you left a decade ago does not always arrive inside it.
The other document on that clock, and the folklore attached to it
Questions applicants ask
How long is an Indian PCC valid for a Canada PR application?
An Indian police clearance certificate has no fixed validity period, and the six-month figure everyone quotes is a misreading of a different rule. IRCC requires that the certificate for the country where you currently live was issued no more than six months before you submit your application. For any other country, meaning one you have left, the certificate simply has to have been issued after the last time you lived there for six consecutive months or more since you turned 18. There is no expiry on that second kind. So if you are applying from India, the six-month window is real and you should time the certificate carefully. If you have already moved to Canada, the Indian certificate you obtained on your way out remains acceptable for the whole cycle.
My PCC has an expiry date printed on it. Is it still valid?
A printed expiry date does not by itself make the certificate unusable, and IRCC addresses this directly. Where a country prints an expiry on its certificates, IRCC will still accept one provided it was issued after the last time you stayed in that country for six consecutive months or longer, and provided it is not for the country where you currently live. So the printed date matters for the country you are living in and not for a country you have left. Include the certificate rather than assuming it is dead and paying for another.
Where can I get a police clearance certificate in Gujarat?
IRCC accepts an Indian police clearance certificate from four places, and treats them equally: your local district police station, a passport office, an Indian embassy or consulate, and a BLS International centre. There is no hierarchy among them and no requirement to use a particular one, which matters because agents sometimes insist on a specific route and charge for the privilege. What IRCC will not accept is a character certificate, which is a different document that many police stations in Gujarat issue by default when asked for something like this.
Can I send a notarised copy of my police certificate?
You cannot send a notarised or certified true copy of a police certificate. IRCC requires a colour scan of the original, and says that certified true copies and unauthorised copies will not be accepted and will result in your application being rejected. Rejected is a stronger word than refused: the application is returned rather than decided. This catches Indian applicants more than most, because notarising and attesting copies is the ordinary way to submit documents to almost any Indian office, so a family that carefully has everything attested has done the one thing that ends the application.
Do I need a police certificate for a Canadian study permit?
You do not need a police certificate for a Canadian study permit as a matter of course. IRCC asks for one only in some cases, and it will also request one if you declared a criminal record on your application for a study permit, a work permit or an electronic travel authorisation. Permanent residence is different: there a police certificate is always required, for every country you have lived in for six months or more since turning 18. Students routinely obtain one they were never asked for, and while it does no harm beyond the cost and the wait, it is worth knowing the difference before booking an appointment.
Where this comes from
Police clearance
Send us the certificate before it goes into the application.
We check that it covers the right period, comes from an authority IRCC accepts, and is submitted in the form IRCC wants. A certificate in the wrong form has the application rejected rather than delayed, which is a different and worse outcome.
Three fields · about 30 seconds