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is FOSS CHECK like Backgrounf Check?

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LEON View Drop Down
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    Posted: 16 Mar 2010 at 1:38am
Field Operations Support System (FOSS)
Description:
The FOSS database is a central repository of information on all persons who have been, may be or are wanted to be seen by Immigration staff. FOSS is the main operational support system for immigration operations in Canada. The system is comprised of numerous components including query functions, status entry, document creation, refugee monitoring, case processing support, medical profiles, registry functions, client name and address, statistical functions, airport primary inspection line functions, access and security, appeals and litigation, quality assurance and records maintenance. FOSS also provides query capabilities for lost, stolen and fraudulent documents. All Immigration staff that work with the public and the staff that support these officers use FOSS. It is also used at all international airports by customs inspectors and by a number of specialized groups, such as: Case Management, Query Response Centre, Social Insurance Registry, Immigration Health, Immigration Statistics, External Affairs Protocol, Canadian consulates in various locations in the United States. There are 21.2 million client records and over 37.7 million document reference records.

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dpenabill View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dpenabill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Mar 2010 at 2:50am
Not really. Different beasts. Different databases. FOSS is explicitly immigration. Clients in Canada are entitled to obtain their FOSS records. Backgrounds checks, in contrast, may contain information that is not available to clients.

The only relationship between FOSS and background checks is for correlation purposes, checking consistency of information, comparing data in one with data obtained in others; background checks entail, at the minimum, name record checks in various databases including foreign criminal history records, but may include significantly more, and in unusual cases even actual investigations.

Of course that means the person conducting the background check will be examining the person's FOSS records, but they will be looking at much more than that.
Bureaucracy is what bureaucracy does, or When in doubt, follow the instructions. Otherwise, follow the instructions.



BTW: Not an expert, not a Can. lawyer, never worked in immigration
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LEON View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LEON Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Mar 2010 at 4:29am
Tks for detailed reply
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LEON Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Mar 2010 at 4:29am
dpenabill
Tks for reply
When Background check starts usually?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dpenabill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Mar 2010 at 12:31am
Formally?

First, somewhat informally:
I pose this first because I believe (not certain, and others do not agree with me) that simple name record checks are done almost casually and concomitantly at various stages of an immigration process, meaning that the person's name and date of birth are queried in gateway databases providing access to information in other agency (even other country's) databases which include sundry background information on the individual, including most saliently criminal history records. I think this is done multiple times, and even after a decision has been made to "approve" the application I believe it is done before they actually issue the visa, and I am quite sure it is done by the CBSA officer processing immigrants at the time they are landing. This is not what is meant by "background checks" in the formal process of assessing a PR application (I'll get to that), but it is what many people think of when they think of background checking generally, and of course it is to some degree just that. (It has multiple functions, including more data upon which to affirm applicant identity, as well as to spot obvious signs of fraud or of criminal inadmissibility).

More formally: For most applicants I believe the more formal so-called "background and security" check is probably little more than what I refer to as the informal name and date of birth records check (although I am not sure who it is done by; could be routinely submitted, at this stage, to CSIS who probably has access to even more databases than the ordinary immigration and CBSA officer), but (I am speculating more than a little here . . . the background and security check process is what they call "not transparent," meaning it is not public information, purposefully so in order to protect their processes from being scammed or something like that) there are all sorts of triggers which may induce a more exhaustive or intensive check on a person's background . . . and what they do at that stage is, again, deliberately kept secret, although I understand it can involve correspondence and assistance from foreign law enforcement sources, even local investigations (which is rare I suspect).

Generally, as I understand it, this more formal background and security check is done near the end of the process, when all is a go and the remaining question is admissibility. For some reason it appears that some inland applications get hung up at this stage -- one gets the impression that a request is put to a foreign agency and if the foreign agency fails to timely respond no one pushes for a response. However, one occasionally sees reports of out-of-Canada apps getting stuck at the "background and security" check phase, and again it is probably a similar thing, a request for information is sent to another agency and there is a delay in getting a response.

But of course, even once the background check is done, at the very last, when one appears at the POE to land (or at an inland office), I am sure they run yet one more name and birth date records check looking for criminal charges and such.
Bureaucracy is what bureaucracy does, or When in doubt, follow the instructions. Otherwise, follow the instructions.



BTW: Not an expert, not a Can. lawyer, never worked in immigration
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