Apologies for starting a new topic, but I think this is important: Can someone here point me to the actual legal framework that lists the documentation requirements for a spouse/dependent? To cut to the point: does the dependent need criminal conviction certificates from the country of residence AND the country of citizenship (if different), or either/or?
I am having an ongoing battle with my lawyer about how many Certificates of No Criminal Conviction (letâs call it CNCC) the spouse of the applicant needs. We are US citizens who have lived in Hong Kong for 37 years, to the point that the USA is only a distant foreign land which we visited (pre-covid) briefly every two years. We donât even have an address there for those rare times when weâre asked for one. Thus, an FBI report for my wife seems, well, absurd.
For our initial application in 2018 and our first renewal, my wife and I submitted CNCCs from Hong Kong, no problem. We were lucky enough to get our second renewal appointments in December 2021. Again, we submitted the Hong Kong CNCCs. Still waiting for SEF to process.
Now my new lawyer insists that my wife, but not I, is required to submit CNCCs from both Hong Kong and the USA. I say ânewâ lawyer because our law firm recently passed our cases to her. Our previous lawyer there never once mentioned the American FBI report, not even as an optional submission, in all the interactions we had. When we were at the biometrics appointments for both application and first renewal (and also this second renewal), the official behind the counter never said, âWhereâs the CNCC from the USA?â In fact, the first I ever heard about this was when our new lawyer brought it up.
I swear that I remember seeing something on the SEFâs own website stating that the spouse needs a CNCC from the country of residence OR the country of citizenship, if different. My new lawyer insists the correct conjunction is âandâ, not âorâ. She says that SEF âmightâ respond and require it, so that we should get it âjust in caseâ. I donât believe her.
If it were a simple process to get the FBI report, Iâd humor her and do it. But getting and apostilling the FBI reportâwhile weâre in Hong Kong, while the US consulate is booked solid until June and beyond for notarial services, and while international courier services are at a near standstill (even the ultra-premium âovernightâ FedEx service took a month to arrive last time I tried, in December)âis such an enormous and time-consuming pain in the tush, itâs not something I want to initiate âjust in caseâ.
If someone has a link to the actual section of the law, or guidance on the SEF site which spells this out clearly, I would be very grateful.