What is a police clearance certificate?
If you want to emigrate or work abroad, you must apply for police clearance certificate at your nearest South African police station. The certificate confirms whether you have a criminal record or you have any clean records. To apply for a police clearance certificate you must provide your full name, surname, date of birth and identity document or passport to the police at the police station where your finger prints will be taken.
If you are outside South Africa you may still apply for a police clearance certificate at any police station in that country or at the South African Embassy.
How I get a SAPS Police Clearance for South Africa
Getting a police clearance certificate (PCC) when you need to use it for work or study abroad can be a time-consuming process, but if you know what the process entails and how to go about it, it makes things much easier to understand why you need to use a professional legal firm. The information on this page will help you better understand what a police clearance certificate is and how you can go about asking us to get your urgent SAPS Police Clearance done.
Need the official SAPS Police Clearance South Africa application form?
What does a police clearance certificate look like?
A SAPS Police Clearance is a certificate that is issued after a background check has been conducted to enumerate any criminal records that a person might have. This police clearance certificate (PCC) service is available to people who require confirmation of their criminal status for emigration purposes or for travel or employment abroad.
If the applicant does have a criminal record, the police clearance certificate will state that such records are displayed on the second page of the document. Even if the person has a record, the document is still valid, legal and can be used in applications requiring it.
A police clearance (South Africa) is available to anyone, whether they have been in the country or not. It simply is a database check, by using names, other details and especially fingerprints, to see whether these details correlate with anyone on the South African criminal records database. Therefore, anyone, from any country, with any details, can apply for and obtain a South African police clearance.
The SAPS Criminal Record Centre (CRC), located in Pretoria, is where South Africans (and any other nationality as well) get their clearance certificates processed. We deals directly with the SAPS CRC and thus cuts out any intermediaries (such as embassies or consulates), and applies for and collects documents directly from the source. This makes applications through our service for South African police clearances much, much faster and more reliable.
It also makes it possible to apply for a South African police clearance from abroad.
How to get an urgent police clearance certificate?
For an urgent application, the following documents are required:
A full set of the applicant’s fingerprints on a SAPS 91(a) when living in South Africa. The fingerprints must be taken by the South African Police Service or you can visit our offices in Pretoria to have your fingerprints taken. Persons living abroad may apply at any police station in that country or at the South African Embassy to have their fingerprints taken then courier them to our offices. Fingerprints must be taken on the official fingerprint forms of the applicable country or, if available, on the SAPS 91(a) fingerprint enquiry form. For a valid police clearance certificate.
Should you wish to arrange an urgent police clearance certificate from the South African SAPS through us, you can have the SAPS police clearance fingerprints taken at your nearest police station or at our offices, after which we will handle your application directly with the Pretoria Criminal Records Centre (CRC).
How long does police clearance take?
According to the Criminal Records Centre (CRC), processing times vary from the day on which the application was submitted, which is very confusing. These times may differ between 2 – 3 months if you’re in South Africa or the police clearance Certificate can take 3 – 6 months if you’re abroad.
In special cases, it may be possible to further speed up obtaining a PCC from South Africa (extreme urgent police clearance South Africa). Ask your agent about being able to submit fingerprints via a high-quality scan on email. This is what SAPS does in effect anyway, and thus if possible, will allow you to forego the time and cost of a courier to South Africa.
Important parts of the police clearance (South Africa)
Police Clearance Certificates contains various numbers, all which are important only to SAPS, such as a enquiry number, transaction number and SAPS number which may be used to do an online inquiry if you wish to know the process stage of your police clearance certificate. The yellow-gold and blue SAPS logo and heading are centered at the top, and the person’s details are below. There is no South African ID number or passport number listed on any South African police clearance. It is important to make very sure, as soon as you have received your PCC or seen a scan thereof, to check all the details carefully as mistakes do occur.
When using the document to apply for something, the date stamp and authenticity of the document are usually the main things in question. A police clearance certificate is valid for differing time periods depending on the country or authority you are using it with. The authenticity is verified by a Dirco Apostille on the document, or a Dirco authentication and embassy attestation if you intend on using the document in a country that is not a member of the Hague convention, 1961.
Police Clearance certificates are valid for a period of 6 months. However, expiry time limits may differ in some countries, this means you may need to renew the document often.
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