What is a Canadian Visa Application Background Check

What is a background check?

During the process of applying for Canadian immigration or visa, more and more people encounter background check problems. So what is a background check and why do you encounter one?
When each applicant applies for a Canadian visa or immigration, he or she will fill in materials regarding education, work experience, and family situation. IRCC officials confirm the applicant’s background through the submitted materials.

However, if the visa officer has doubts about the application materials submitted by the applicant, he will take some additional measures to find out the applicant’s background. This is a background check.
Generally speaking, as long as the material is complete, accurate, authentic and trustworthy enough, the probability of entering the background will be greatly reduced.

What does a background check check?

The background check will investigate the applicant’s problems in the following three aspects.
Completeness and authenticity of the materials: If the visa officer suspects that the applicant’s materials are untrue and incomplete, he will take measures to investigate, such as calling the applicant’s previous company to investigate the authenticity of the work experience, checking bank statements, and even Will visit the applicant’s home and verify family relationships.
Criminal record check: All Canadian visa and immigration applicants are required to submit a certificate of no criminal record from their previous place of residence (where they have lived for more than 6 months). If the IRCC officer has questions about the applicant’s experience, he may ask to apply Provide proof of no criminal record from any place where the person has previously lived.
Security investigation: The security investigation is to investigate whether the applicant poses a threat to Canadian security. The investigation is a collaboration between three federal agencies that review visa and citizenship applications:
Immigration and Refugee Canada (IRCC)
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)
Only applicants under special circumstances, such as high-level civil servants, working in certain sensitive units (Huawei, ZTE, China Aviation Academy), or in sensitive majors (computer science, electronic communications engineering, aerospace, biology) in some colleges and universities Engineering, etc.) will trigger a background check and even a security check.

Background Check Methods

Contact Directly

Sending emails is the most common method of investigation. When immigration officers want to investigate the authenticity of an applicant, they usually contact the applicant directly by email or phone.

Visit

Generally, this situation is common in partner immigration or reunion immigration applications. In order to investigate the authenticity of the applicant’s family relationship, the investigators sometimes go directly to the applicant’s home in the middle of the night and knock on the door to check the applicant’s real living situation.

Interview

Sometimes the immigration officer will make an appointment for a one-on-one interview with the applicant. This usually happens for investment immigration, reunion immigration and partner immigration applications. The interviewer will be in a small room and ask the applicant about his/her work and life situation.

Third Party

If it is an investment immigrant, IRCC often entrusts a third-party agency to investigate the applicant’s assets. This requires applicants to declare their asset information accurately, and everything down to a credit card must be transparent. This survey is generally limited to investment immigration, and other immigration methods will not appear.

Secret Investigation

Secret investigations generally exist in applications for senior classified personnel and applicants with sensitive job sources. This situation is limited to the security background investigation link and involves national secrets and security departments and the methods they adopt.

Background Check Timing

The background investigation cycle faced by everyone is different. If it is just a simple material error, you only need to submit the correct materials in time. This problem can be solved in a few weeks, but if the applicant’s identity is sensitive and enters the security investigation, then It may take a year or more to complete the investigation.

Q&A

What applicants will face background checks?

Generally, ordinary people will not enter the background check when applying. Applicants who do not have special backgrounds but enter the background check may just have errors in their application materials, such as writing their name or date of birth incorrectly. If you have a sensitive background as mentioned above, you will basically be transferred.

What to do if you go into a background check?

First of all, it needs to be made clear that as long as your materials are true and accurate, even if you are subject to negative review, it will not affect the result of your application. Therefore, please carefully confirm whether the information on the materials is accurate when applying.
The most important thing when applying is not to use false information. Please fill in your professional experience and relative information truthfully. If the materials are incorrect, just submit the correct application materials in time. If you are facing a work background investigation, please communicate with the company HR or person in charge.
For applicants who have entered background transfer, the last resort is an injunction. If you feel that your immigration or visa application has been unreasonably delayed and the waiting time is significantly longer than normal, you can apply to the federal court for an injunction and request IRCC Give an explanation.
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