Enhanced Reliability Check (ERC) - Merged

[dapaterson]

I can tell you first hand that being a naturalized Canadian with dual* citizenship had no impact on my holding an SA clearance.


* in my case legally a citizen of 3 domains

Ah, but are you a master of those domains?

 

[Canadian1992]

Awesome thanks a lot for the information!

BTW - you mentioned the possibility of renouncing your US citizenship.  FYI, I hope you're filing your yearly FBAR and 1040 tax return with a F8833 declaration under Article XIX of the USA-Canada Tax Convention.  If you try and renounce US citizen and you haven't been filing taxes, it will probably get ugly.

Thanks for the reminder, I have been making sure Uncle Sam gets his due!

 

[PPCLI Guy]

Only weirdness that may occur is if you get posted to the US, in which case you'll be in the country under your US passport instead of a Visa. 

I have dual citizenship with the UK.  When I was posted there, I simply insisted on using my Canadian passport at all times - to the point that the British Army had to pay for me to get a Visa to visit a country (on duty) that I would not have needed a visa for if I had traveled on my British passport.  It seems the UK rules are less stringent than those of the Americans.

 

[eaglehawkdown]

Good day. Everything is finished (medical,cfat,small interview)and now I am waiting on Pre-security. So after waiting a month and a half and hearing nothing at all I decided to send an e-mail to the right people in charge of my file to show intrest still on two different occasions through out the month and a half. I have not heard anything back from them. I have been growing a tad bit frustrated (hurry up and wait)and was just wondering what suggestions or recommendations anyone might have for me,Thank you in advance. 

 

[DAA]

Good day. Everything is finished (medical,cfat,small interview)and now I am waiting on Pre-security. So after waiting a month and a half and hearing nothing at all I decided to send an e-mail to the right people in charge of my file to show intrest still on two different occasions through out the month and a half. I have not heard anything back from them. I have been growing a tad bit frustrated (hurry up and wait)and was just wondering what suggestions or recommendations anyone might have for me,Thank you in advance. 

Not sure I understand your question, as something doesn't seem quite right.  Generally, when a "pre-sec" is required, you don't get beyond the CFAT stage, unless the pre-sec requirement was missed.  Depending on the countries involved, the pre-sec process can take sometime.  Not to mention, who are the "right people" that you emailed?

 

[eaglehawkdown]

I have a parent living outside of Canada hes been out for over 10 years and I myself have not left Canada in over 10 years. And the right people I emailed I am referring to the recruiting office staff that I was dealing with and who gave me their card to contact them.

 

[Bassil_Inf]

Eagle,
I went through the PRESEC Stage due to the fact that my father was out of the country. It all depends on your situation and the reasoning for your PRESEC, but to let you know, mine took about 3-4 weeks if I recall. Other's have had a PRESEC that took months or years. Good luck man.

 

[DAA]

I have a parent living outside of Canada hes been out for over 10 years and I myself have not left Canada in over 10 years. And the right people I emailed I am referring to the recruiting office staff that I was dealing with and who gave me their card to contact them.

I find that sometimes, it can take over a month before your local CFRC responds to your emails.  Don't know why that is but keep plugging away.  If you are close enough, stop by in person, it can't hurt.

 

[Spimx]

Hello everyone, I just applied to enter the air force as AVN TECH. I am a Canadian citizen living here since July 2007, but my mother lives back home (Dom. Rep.). My question is how long will take background check (security check) since I lived back home for 4 out of the last 10 years. I came to canada when I was 18, pretty young, have no criminal record at all, good credit (not outstanding) record paying my school loan and car loan, live on my own... I will really appreciate any info to know the time frame. I'm really bad on waiting without knowing how long to wait

 

[frankyboy1]

Hey,

I've seen other posts where most people with dual citizenship haven't needed a Pre-assessment, but does having both dual citizenship and a sister living in Kenya increase my chances or even guarantee that I'll need this assessment done? I really don't want to have to wait an additional 6-18 months to get this done...

I have lived in Canada my entire life and have no credit issues or anything.

Regards,
Frank

 

[canadianintel]

Hi guys, I've researched the site and especially the super thread about security clearances but I'm seeking for more help since I haven't found answers to my questions yet. I'm doing my research on the application process to join the CF on their website and I came across this:

If you have ever lived outside Canada or have an immediate family member who currently lives outside Canada: You will be asked to fill out the “Pre-Enrolment Security Clearance Pre-Assessment Questionnaire”.  You should be prepared to provide adequate, verifiable information for the last 10 years. This information is used to determine if a Security Clearance Pre-Assessment is required, especially if you:

- have dual citizenship
- if you lived, worked, studied or travelled outside of Canada in the last 10 years for a total of at least 180 days
- if you have a child, parent, step-parent, spouse, in-laws, brother or sister (half & step) living outside of Canada

Now I'm quite concerned about this because I will admit I do not fully understand to whom this applies. I'm a Canadian citizen, born and raised here, my imediate family lives here, nobody lives abroad now, but in the last ten years I've been on many vacations outside of Canada. Will they require a security clearance for this? There were times where I traveled at least 4 times in a single year for vacation especially to go visit my ex-girlfriend but I never stayed in a foreign country for more than 180 consecutive days. Nor have I ever considered myself as LIVING in another country. My residence has always been Canada and I never worked outside of our borders.

Does this apply to those who's days outside of Canada account to more than 180 days all together without them necessarily being consecutive?

Any thoughts on this will be much appreciated and FYI I will be asking these questions to my local Recruit Center on monday. Truth is I do not look forward to their answers because I've spoken to different recruiters and every one has a different opinion/answer/truth.

Regards

 

[The_Falcon]

1) It's a cumulative total of time, even if it was just vacations
2) A query would be sent first, if you meet the time threshold, or your vacations were in questionable countries
3) Recruiters don't normally do the back office stuff like this, hence why you get different answers from them.

 

[RADOPSIGOPACCISOP]

Hi guys, I've researched the site and especially the super thread about security clearances but I'm seeking for more help since I haven't found answers to my questions yet. I'm doing my research on the application process to join the CF on their website and I came across this:

If you have ever lived outside Canada or have an immediate family member who currently lives outside Canada: You will be asked to fill out the “Pre-Enrolment Security Clearance Pre-Assessment Questionnaire”.  You should be prepared to provide adequate, verifiable information for the last 10 years. This information is used to determine if a Security Clearance Pre-Assessment is required, especially if you:

- have dual citizenship
- if you lived, worked, studied or travelled outside of Canada in the last 10 years for a total of at least 180 days
- if you have a child, parent, step-parent, spouse, in-laws, brother or sister (half & step) living outside of Canada

Now I'm quite concerned about this because I will admit I do not fully understand to whom this applies. I'm a Canadian citizen, born and raised here, my imediate family lives here, nobody lives abroad now, but in the last ten years I've been on many vacations outside of Canada. Will they require a security clearance for this? There were times where I traveled at least 4 times in a single year for vacation especially to go visit my ex-girlfriend but I never stayed in a foreign country for more than 180 consecutive days. Nor have I ever considered myself as LIVING in another country. My residence has always been Canada and I never worked outside of our borders.

Does this apply to those who's days outside of Canada account to more than 180 days all together without them necessarily being consecutive?

Any thoughts on this will be much appreciated and FYI I will be asking these questions to my local Recruit Center on monday. Truth is I do not look forward to their answers because I've spoken to different recruiters and every one has a different opinion/answer/truth.

Regards

It is cumulative time. The pre-security clearance questionnaire just determines if the recruiting office or DPM Pers Secur (Personnel Security Branch in Ottawa) is able to authorize the Reliability Check that you need to enroll. Given the details you provided, I would be shocked if either would not recommend your file for approval.

Best advice I can give you, fill out the information as honest as you can. I've seen files been rejected for incomplete or inaccurate information. I've also seen people that spent all their lives in "questionable countries" or as NDSP/NDSI call them "Schedule A and Schedule B" countries, be quickly approved. Being in any country won't cause your application to be rejected on it's own.

 

[George Wallace]

As an A/USS, I can tell you it is not "cumulative".  If it is your vacation time, and almost everyone has vacationed outside of the country.  It is just that; a vacation.  The concern will be if you actually took up residence in a foreign country for a period of time.  If it asks for the country that you visited, list the country and dates visited.  Simple as that.  If you have to make any clarification on information, use the "Statutory Declaration" box to explain the situation.

Follow the instructions.  Ensure that there are no breaks in the dates of your residence and education/employment data; the end of one must be one month and the next month being the start of the next.  Ensure that you have all the particulars on all your immediate family; mother, father, brothers and sisters, half brothers and half sisters, step-mother, step-father, etc. as applies to your case.  If you have to make any clarification on or do not know information, use the "Statutory Declaration" box to explain the situation.

If there are any concerns reference your submission, they will send it back to you with a request for what exactly they want.  This will cause delays in your processing, so it is best to provide the information correctly the first time and when in doubt, use the "Statutory Declaration" to clarify any and ALL points that may be requiring clarification or unknown.

 

[The_Falcon]

Our guy repsonsible for Pre-Sec had been told by whoever it is Ottawa that does these checks, it was cummulative time.  Either way, list all the details requested, it's beter to have to much info then to little and have your file get delayed.

 

[RADOPSIGOPACCISOP]

As an A/USS, I can tell you it is not "cumulative".  If it is your vacation time, and almost everyone has vacationed outside of the country.  It is just that; a vacation.  The concern will be if you actually took up residence in a foreign country for a period of time.  If it asks for the country that you visited, list the country and dates visited.  Simple as that.  If you have to make any clarification on information, use the "Statutory Declaration" box to explain the situation.

Follow the instructions.  Ensure that there are no breaks in the dates of your residence and education/employment data; the end of one must be one month and the next month being the start of the next.  Ensure that you have all the particulars on all your immediate family; mother, father, brothers and sisters, half brothers and half sisters, step-mother, step-father, etc. as applies to your case.  If you have to make any clarification on or do not know information, use the "Statutory Declaration" box to explain the situation.

If there are any concerns reference your submission, they will send it back to you with a request for what exactly they want.  This will cause delays in your processing, so it is best to provide the information correctly the first time and when in doubt, use the "Statutory Declaration" to clarify any and ALL points that may be requiring clarification or unknown.

Sorry George, A/USS's don't fill out this form. This isn't the TBS 330-23e or 330-60e.

Once again for the recruiting applicant, put all info into the form (http://cdn.forces.ca/_PDF2010/pre_secur_en.pdf) and the recruiter will do the rest.

 

[RADOPSIGOPACCISOP]

Our guy repsonsible for Pre-Sec had been told by whoever it is Ottawa that does these checks, it was cummulative time.  Either way, list all the details requested, it's beter to have to much info then to little and have your file get delayed.

It is cumulative time. I've been in recruiting before.

The problem is when people who think "Duh, I was a A/USS" and start making up things on the spot give potential recruits the wrong information.

I guess it's true that it's best to stay in your lane.

 

[George Wallace]

Once again for the recruiting applicant, put all info into the form (http://cdn.forces.ca/_PDF2010/pre_secur_en.pdf) and the recruiter will do the rest.

Sorry.  My mistake for using my Quals AEWV, 112800 and 117662 to interpret that document as only requiring one to list where they may have resided/visited/worked/studied OUTSIDE of Canada as simply that.  No mention of cumulative.  A vacation is just that; a vacation.  Almost every Canadian has vacationed outside of Canada.  It is no big deal, unless as pointed out that one visited a "Scheduled Country", which again is a point of debate.  The prospect's stated Residence has been in CANADA, not abroad.  That would be what would be the determining factor in whether or not they met that criteria to enrol. 

The prospect applying to the CAF must meet the criteria to enrol. 

 

[RADOPSIGOPACCISOP]

Sorry.  My mistake for using my Quals AEWV, 112800 and 117662 to interpret that document as only requiring one to list where they may have resided/visited/worked/studied OUTSIDE of Canada as simply that.  No mention of cumulative.  A vacation is just that; a vacation.  Almost every Canadian has vacationed outside of Canada.  It is no big deal, unless as pointed out that one visited a "Scheduled Country", which again is a point of debate.  The prospect's stated Residence has been in CANADA, not abroad.  That would be what would be the determining factor in whether or not they met that criteria to enrol. 

The prospect applying to the CAF must meet the criteria to enrol.

George, you are complicating a simple process. The applicant puts all the applicable info (including vacations) into the form and the wizards at DP Pers Sec make the determination. It's not for you to make up your own policies as a former A/USS, no matter how many two day/1 week courses you think qualifies you to do so.

 

[canadianintel]

I thank you all for your answers. My residence has always been Canada but in the last ten years I've spent many months abroad on vacation, mostly during the months of summer. Do I have access to the list of Scheduled Countries? I always visited the same two countries during the last ten years, and finding the exact dates for all these vacations will be a headache, do I absolutely need to give the exact dates?