I had a bit of a panic last week when I realised that I hadn't sent away for a Police Cert.

I manged to get a direct dial number for the department at Scotland Yard that issues them. They said that they don't usually take calls from the public but I told them I needed my certificate by the end of the month.

They were REALLY helpful and put my application to the top of the pile and it arrived through my letter box this morning TEN days after I applied!

The number is 0207 230 2966. Turn on the charm and you shouldn't have to wait 40 days.

I have to say that although I went through the standard channels for obtaining the Police Cert (submitting request over the counter and waiting), I too was running out of time and was not able to wait 40 days. I sat chewing my nails for days on end knowing I had my interview and without the certificate, it would be useless. 20 days later I received mine in the post, 7 days before the interview.
If anyone is waiting for their UK Police Cert, it doesnt usually take the full 40 days if your record is clear. Fair play to the Met Police - they say you will have it within a specified period of time and you do. I dont know if anyone has had a bad experience though?

Thanks for the posts. My fiance is going to apply for his in the next day or so. We don't have NOA2 yet so we're not in a huge hurry, but it'd still be great if it only took 20 days.

Actually, it DOES usually take the 40 days. The majority of people here, in the UK forum, have waited the 40 days with CLEAR police records.

Apologies then if I misled anyone. I had heard through a friend of mine that a relative of hers was also moving to the US and she waited 3 weeks for her police cert. I simply assumed that clear records were processed faster.

Hey, no worries. I just didn't want people to get the idea they could leave applying for a police cert until the last minute!

Since the consulate will accept a certificate up to 12 months old, I've always felt it's a good idea to order it when the visa petition is filed.

The main reason I posted this is because I actually applied for a Police Cert in 2005 and it took over ten weeks to get the certificate. They 'couldn't locate' the paperwork and it was only after about 10 phone calls that I actually started to get anywhere.

I would follow up with the Met as a matter of course if you are at all time pressured. They have been great this time around but mistakes do happen and it would be terrible to miss out on your visa for the sake of one piece of paper.

My fiancee will have get police certificates from three different countries (UK, France [specifically Martinique] and Germany) and so timing is quite important for us. Since you recently posted about the UK police certificate, I thought I'd ask: what form do you need to fill out to get a UK police certificate. I sent an email to Metropolitan Police and they referred me to form 3019B from http://www.met.police.uk/dataprotection. Is this the correct form?

That looks like the right form although I filled it in at my local police station. I would send away for it as soon as possible but remember that they are only vaild for one year.

Good luck!

Just a litle info to add to the statistics, My finacee requested his police records on January 26th and he recieved them in the mail on Feb 15th. So was pretty fast for us.

I wasn't in any rush for mine but it arrived exactly at 41 days...and I sent an email on the 40th day and they rang me to say I should get it the next day but if I don't to ring them back (they gave me a name and number to contact).

I applied for my Police Certificate through Humberside Police on the 3rd Feb and received my Certificate on Saturday 17th Feb via the Met !!!

My advise would be to make sure you give your application to the major local Police Station as many of the smaller ones have no clue what form you complete and have to send it to the larger station before sending the request down to London..

Hope this helps someone !!!!

I am just filling the form out now from http://www.met.police.uk/dataprotection/forms.htm and I am wondering what address to send this too? I am not in London, so I guess my local police dept in my area up north? Is the correct?

Anyone? Thanks

Yes, send it to your local constabulary headquarters.

If you do send it in by post (there should be an address on the instructions), you also have to mail in your forms of identification.