DNI - which country for background check?

[dlish]

I'm a dual Australian-US citizen, born in Australia. I want to get a DNI here and am going to file with my Australian papers because I can get them apostilled at the Australian embassy and avoid the crazy US apostille process. The only problem is the background check. I lived in the USA before coming here, not Australia. I'd prefer to get the background check from Australia because it's so easy to obtain and is all online - will I squeak by with it, or will Migraciones want a background check from the USA as I lived there most of my life?

 

[Quilombo]

IIRC you're supposed to include a background check for each country you've lived in for like 6 months or more in the last 3 years (don't quote me), but I also know they only generally care about your country of birth, even if you haven't lived there in years. I remember this being a thing for someone from Europe who was born in a different country in the EU than where they had been living in for like the past 20 years, but Argentina was like "Nope, you need a background check from [birth country]".

As for dual citizens, don't ask/don't tell is probably the best approach. I personally hadn't been to one of my countries of citizenship in 4 years as I had been living here when applying for my Argentine citizenship, and they still wanted a background check from there, though this was for nationalizing as an Argentine citizen.

Your best bet is probably just to do everything as an Australian.

 

[dlish]

Your best bet is probably just to do everything as an Australian.

Thanks!

 

[A Antares]

dlish, Migraciones can be difficult to deal with and they are typically sticklers for detail. You don't know who will review your application or what mood they are in. Don't listen to the 'sea-lawyers' here. Migraciones will easily see on your physical passport and in their computer that you lived in the United States before coming here and will likely ask you for a FBI background criminal history. This is sensible.

You can obtain your FBI background check electronically for example at: https://www.accuratebiometrics.com/

Download and print the FBI fingerprint card here: https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/standard-fingerprint-form-fd-258-1.pdf

Have your fingerprints taken at the U.S. Embassy via appt. or at any local police station (Comisaría).

Once you have your FBI criminal history, you can have it apostilled via a service such as https://usexpressapostille.com/ which will ship it to you in Argentina.

 

[dilmah]

Migraciones will easily see on your physical passport and in their computer that you lived in the United States before coming here

how do they see this? If a person has permanent resident (green) card then there are no US stamps in one's passport at all.

In my case they asked me for background check from my birth country (which was actually different from my passport country).
And I provided them my FBI background check just because I told them that I lived in the US and getting FBI background check was actually much easier than getting background check from my birth country.

 

[Quilombo]

how do they see this? If a person has permanent resident (green) card then there are no US stamps in one's passport at all.

In my case they asked me for background check from my birth country (which was actually different from my passport country).
And I provided them my FBI background check just because I told them that I lived in the US and getting FBI background check was actually much easier than getting background check from my birth country.

I think people overestimate both how competent Migraciones is, and how many resources they have/desire to do a thorough job. They literally gave PR status to, and eventually helped 2 Russian spies obtain citizenship with that couple and their kids in Slovakia or Slovenia IIRC; they aren't Interpol and the CIA.

 

[Frank2000]

I didn't need to provide background check from the country of my birth of which I am no longer a citizen. You must provide
"an apostilled or legalized certificate of good conduct issued by the competent authority of the countries where you resided for more than one year over the previous three years." Assuming you have lived in the USA for more than a year within the last 3 years, you will need an FBI background check. Have you lived in Australia as well for more than a year within the last 3 years?

The website application (for permanent residency) ran into system related hiccups/bugs in my case because the country of my citizenship was different than the country of my birth. At which time I hired the services of a lawyer and she worked directly with the immigration to overcome the hiccup. This was last year and maybe they fixed the bugs. But there were other hiccups with the online filing system. Also, it might make a difference which passport you used when entering Argentina.

It cost me $1000 to retain an immigration lawyer, but it was money well spent.

 

[Lisandra]

how do they see this? If a person has permanent resident (green) card then there are no US stamps in one's passport at all.

In my case they asked me for background check from my birth country (which was actually different from my passport country).
And I provided them my FBI background check just because I told them that I lived in the US and getting FBI background check was actually much easier than getting background check from my birth country.

Other than the millions of illegal aliens walking across the US southern border, everyone entering and leaving the USA is accounted for by USCBP. Your being there, stamp or no stamp, is simply quantified as the difference between your date of entry and your date of your departure.

Countries that share entry/exit data (i.e. Schengen [SIS] and Five Eyes...] can see travelers' movements. The Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) is just one example of such integration. Whether or not Migraciónes can see this, I don't know if Argentina and the United States share this information. But I would not wager against them be unable to get it quickly.

 

[FrankPintor]

I didn't need to provide background check from the country of my birth of which I am no longer a citizen. You must provide
"an apostilled or legalized certificate of good conduct issued by the competent authority of the countries where you resided for more than one year over the previous three years." Assuming you have lived in the USA for more than a year within the last 3 years, you will need an FBI background check. Have you lived in Australia as well for more than a year within the last 3 years?

The website application (for permanent residency) ran into system related hiccups/bugs in my case because the country of my citizenship was different than the country of my birth. At which time I hired the services of a lawyer and she worked directly with the immigration to overcome the hiccup. This was last year and maybe they fixed the bugs. But there were other hiccups with the online filing system. Also, it might make a difference which passport you used when entering Argentina.

It cost me $1000 to retain an immigration lawyer, but it was money well spent.

You are correct about the 3 year rule, but Migraciones can ask for whatever they feel is necessary. In my case they went back 5 years, no doubt enchanted by the many stamps in my passport. Colombia threatened to be a problem, since that country no longer issues physical, or even downloadable certificates of good conduct. Fortunately Migraciones knew about that and I was ok. In the end, Migraciones will ask for whatever they feel like.

 

[dlish]

Thanks everyone for your help. Sounds like I need both. I may try first with just an Australian background check because it's so fast and easy to get; and if they force me to get a US one then I'll do it. Thanks!