how long do you have to have lived in another country for the embassy to ask for a police certificate?

i lived in germany and holland for 3 months each back in 1989, the legaliseation department in germany say 6 months but the dutch 'justice' department have no idea.

i know the embassy only ask for all the addresses lived at for 6 months or more since the age of 16, but the fact that i was there might send them in the direction of asking for these police certificates, just to delay me (and this would be my luck!)...all i can find out about these certificates is that both countries call them 'certificates of good behavior' and they are to be requested by the embassy...(or employer!?) i have no idea what to do about this...do i really need them? i am told by the german place that if i am asked i should direct the embassy to their website which tells them...in german...that they will only issue a certificate for more than 6 months residency...how do i get the embassy to do this should i need to??
the time i spent in germany and holland was more like an extended holiday...although we were renting a house and my boyfriend at the time was working there, i was kind of non existant to the german and dutch authorities...but i still put that i was there on my visa application...now i am stuck as to whether this will delay things...

I think it is a minimum of 6 months, someone more knowlegable will soon come along and confirm or deny. I'm sure that 3 months is a none issue.

They should both be none issues as you weren't in those countries for 12 months. More info can be found at the link below.
http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/iv/ds2001.html

It's definitely 12 months. Bruce lived in Germany for 10 months and Russia for 11 months and he didn't need a police certificate for either.

That sounds right. for the UK that is... We have been posting about this too...

Just got Packet 3 from the US Embassy in Stockholm today. Yay!

But to our great surprise UNLIKE all other US embassies in Europe and most of the rest of the world (save Manila and Bogota), there seems to be a minimum six months' residency requirement.

At least, this is what the K1 document checklist says (the one you need to send it to schedule the interview). However, the supplemental info sheet on police certs and military records, CLEARLY states that the minimum is one year!?!?

This distinction is kind of key since 11 months in Holland either does or does not require a police cert. If we have to get one, it means a delay since the US Consulate here has to request one from the one in Holland. Special rules apply here for unknown reasons... in other words, while we tried to stay ahead of the game by getting the required German and UK police certs, we may now have to wait.

why oh why....

Yep -- sorry, should have been clearer that this is the case for London. Sorry to hear about your issues with Stockholm...not fair at all!

I lived in Germany for about 11 months after age 16 and was asked for a certificate. :-( However, that was at the end of a 2 1/2 year period so
it might have been close enough for them to ask anyway.

If you want to be sure you could contact the Embassy asking them to confirm that you won't need them or you could apply for the certificates just in case you need them.
It took 3 weeks for me from finding out I needed Germany certificate to getting the translation returned.

Colin

Thanks!

Just checked my biographic data sheet, submitted with the original petition, and there I stated that I lived in Holland for over a year. So to avoid issues, I will just put that on the DS-230, and hopefully the Embassy will get hold of that Dutch police cert pronto.

Must see that it still seems odd to me that the US Emb in Stockholm appears to have different requirements that the rest of Europe and most of the rest of the world.

whatyagonnado?