A PNP nominee applying from the UAE was stuck in their home country during COVID flight restrictions when Express Entry documents were due, so they submitted the home-country PCC (covering 10 years) from there — with a Letter of Explanation — instead of one from the UAE, their country of residence. GCMS notes later showed an agent-review comment about the PCC, and criminality read 'not passed' in one section but 'not started' in another. The question: proactively submit a fresh PCC, or wait?
What the thread advised (2021–22 era; the COVID context is historical):
- Wait for IRCC to request the new PCC rather than pre-submitting. The reasoning members gave: a PCC is only valid for a limited window, so getting one before IRCC actually asks risks it expiring or being outdated by the time an officer looks at it. If the agent review flags it, a request will come.
- Don't over-read GCMS status fields. The same file showed criminality 'not started' in the assessment section and 'not passed' in the agent review — members noted these snapshots can be stale or inconsistent, since notes reflect the file at the moment they were generated.
- Call IRCC to confirm the latest status. Because notes were around two months old by the time they arrived, the practical advice was to phone and verify the current criminality/eligibility status before acting on the notes.
- Mind expiring medicals. The applicant was near medical expiry — a reminder that when one document is in question, check the validity clock on everything else too.