Collect passports covering the relevant years, entry and departure records, prior applications and any written decision received. Add court or police dispositions if a criminal matter exists, and correspondence about any earlier status. Copies of what was actually filed matter more than a summary, because vetting looks at what the government already holds.
Order the slow records early
Some documents take weeks to obtain, particularly court records and copies of files held by agencies. Start those requests before the parts that can be produced at a desk. Where an original is unavailable, note the gap honestly rather than reconstructing dates from memory; an inconsistent chronology is harder to explain than a missing page.
Keep translations for any non-English document, and store everything in one place so the portal submission does not become a scramble. Begin with the records that take weeks, particularly court dispositions and copies of files held by agencies, and leave until later the material that can be produced at a desk. Collect passports covering the relevant years, entry and departure records, prior applications, and any written decision received, adding police or court dispositions where a criminal matter exists and correspondence about any earlier status.
Copies of what was actually filed matter more than a summary, because vetting looks at what the government already holds. Where an original is unavailable, note the gap honestly rather than reconstructing dates from memory. Keep translations, and store everything in one place.