Out-of-country verification scenario

Depending on the situation, gathering the required personnel security screening application and out-of-country verification documentation, as well as the assessment of it, can be time-consuming and result in a longer processing time.  

Note

This scenario is designed to help you better understand how the Contract Security Program's (CSP) out-of-country verification process works.

Hypothetical situation

An organization company security officer (CSO) has determined that a new employee, John Smith, needs to work on a series of government of Canada contracts that requires access to protected and secret level information and assets. The CSO wants to send the CSP an application for a reliability status (5 years verifiable history) and a security clearance at the Secret level (10 years verifiable history) for John Smith.

The CSO identifies that John Smith has lived outside of Canada during the past 10 years. He notifies John Smith that he needs to provide documentation to account for their activities for each country that he lived in continuously for at least 6 months. He also understands that the CSP will need to be able to assess the period John Smith spent outside of Canada and may need to validate biographical information in relations to the applicant.

In this case, John Smith lived in the United States of America (U.S.A), Belgium and Saudi Arabia over the course of the period in question. John Smith determines that he must obtain documents from each of those countries to account for his activities while he lived there. This includes information relating to employment, finances, education (if applicable) and travel. John Smith also understands that the information he will provide his CSO must be such that it can be verifiable and validated by the CSP.

The CSO knows that John Smith's personnel security screening assessment cannot begin until the CSP receives all required personnel security screening and out-of-country documentation.

To be pro-active, the CSO reviews the CSP's website and determines the following:

  1. since John lived in the U.S.A for over 6 months, he needs to Get a Police Certificate—United States. As part of this process, John must also submit fingerprints to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. John must also be in a position to provide proof of employment or studies for the time he resided in the U.S.A
  2. in the past 10 years, John studied in Belgium for a period of 1 year. A Belgium police certificate is provided to John but it is written in Flemish. As such, John must have the police certificate translated into either English or French. The police certificate must be translated by a certified translator in Canada who is recognized by the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario or The Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec. John must also be in a position to provide proof of employment or studies for his time spent studying in Belgium.
  3. John also taught English in Saudi Arabia for 8 months. He informs his CSO that the Saudi Arabian authorities will not send him a police certificate. As such, the CSO sends a written request along with proof of the refusal from the foreign authorities to the CSP by email: ssidsfpformulaires-.isspssdforms@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca to obtain confirmation of which alternative documents can be submitted for his time spent in Saudi Arabia with John's security screening application. From there, John will seek a copy of the acceptable alternative document from the relevant authority. Note that John must also be in a position to provide contact information and original documentation, if required, so it can be validated at a later time

Note

Exceptional circumstance:

The CSP is committed to providing a safe environment for its clients. If an applicant is unable to contact a foreign authority for a police certificate as doing so will pose a risk to their safety, the applicant must provide the CSP with an explanation of the circumstances that have led to this exemption request. Once an explanation of circumstance is received, alternative documentation and/or further review will be required. The CSP will then advise the applicant of what will be required in lieu of the police certificate in order to proceed.

Applicants must share all out-of-country verification documents with their CSO:

Upon receipt of the out-of-country verification documents, along with John Smith's application for a reliability status or security clearance at the secret level, the CSP will review and validate the documentation and assess the adequacy and reliability of the originating country's documents.

The CSP will make a determination as to whether the documents are valid and can be used as part of the assessment of the applicant's request. If further documents are needed, or the authenticity of some of the submitted documents is questioned, the CSP will notify the CSO.

Note

At all times, in any given scenarios, CSO should be reminded that if an applicant is unable to provide sufficient documentation or if the CSP or external security partners cannot validate and account for an individual's biographical history or time spent outside of Canada, a decision will be made to deny the reliability status or security clearance.

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