Is it normal to request a police certificate

[Kasiunut]

Is it normal for a Case Officer to request a police certificate for a country that I have not lived in for over 13 years? I recently submitted my PR application and they are requesting a police certificate from Poland where I lived from 1998 until 2002, after which I returned to Canada - however I was 17 years old when I left - not legally an adult. I do have Polish citizenship, however the application only asked for police certificates for countries that I've lived in longer than 1 year in the past 10 years.

This is frustrating because obtain a Polish police certificate from Canada AND getting it translated officially can take A LONG time (like 4 or more MONTHS). Is there any way I can argue my way out of this?? I'm annoyed because I just in Poland for a visit and could have arranged everything there if only I'd known it was a requirement.

[Kasiunut]

Never mind - I just read that I was supposed to provide police certificates for all countries of citizenship. I completely missed that!

My problem is that I've been given a deadline for March 2, 2015 for the Polish Police Certificate and there is no way I would be able to get it that quickly. Not only does requesting a police certificate take several months, in order to get one I'd need to provide them with a Polish resident number and I don't have one. So I'd have to apply for that first. And the only way to do that is to go to Poland personally or give a family member there power of attorney to apply for one on my behalf and the once I get THAT, then apply for the police certificate and THEN get it officially translated.

I've emailed the CO and asked if I can provide a statutory declaration in lieu. I really, really, really hope I get it. Please advise if you have heard of people getting this instead of the police certificate.

[G-Mo]

If there is a course of action that will allow you to get a police certificate, I've never heard of a stat dec being accepted in it's place... It's designed for when it is simply impossible, not inconvenient, to get the documents required.