Sorry, but yet another police certificate thread

[jbrid 0]

The normal response to this post is the infamous Reciprocity website at travel.state.gov. The question is what to do after this procedure has been followed but still no police certificate is obtained?

This is specifically regarding Ghana. My fiance lived there for 3 years and needs a police certificate. As with many developing countries, Ghana doesn't seem to have the procedures in place to fill these types of requests. In addition, the recent election there brought a new political party into power, so there is a changing of the guard occurring now. She started trying to get this in late January while we were waited for the NOA2. Well, now we have the NOA2 and every attempt to get the Ghana police certificate has failed. Because she lived there for so long, she has several contacts that should be able to help. Unfortunately, nothing has been successful and she is left with the prospect of travel to Ghana and visiting the police headquarters in person. That would be very unfortunate and very costly.

Recently she called the embassy in Tokyo, paid $20 USD to ask a question (yes, that's right, it costs $20 to ask them a question), and asked the representative if it would be possible to get an exemption. The representative responded by pointing her to the Reciprocity website.

My questions for the forum are:

1. Has anyone ever gotten an exemption? Meaning, permission from the US embassy to omit a certain police certificate on the grounds that it is nearly impossible to obtain. Obviously, we would expect to show the US embassy the various ways in which we tried to get it.

2. Has anyone ever sought assistance (and gotten it) from a US Congressman or Senator? Is it possible to plead your case to an elected official and ask them to in turn plead with the offshore US embassy. I realize this may sound silly but I am willing to consider any option at this point.

3. Is this something that a lawyer could assist with? We could weigh the cost of her flight to Ghana against the lawyer fees and see which is most cost effective.

Thanks for any input you can provide.

This police certificate nonsense has really thrown a monkey wrench into the operation. We were excited to get the NOA2 a couple weeks ago but our excitement was quickly dampened by the reality of this other hurdle. We are approaching desperation mode. I may also try and call the Tokyo Embassy (pay another $20) and plead with them in English. Maybe that could do it.

Thanks again VJ'ers!

WOOPS! I posted this in the wrong forum. Can someone please move it to US Embassy and Consulate General Discussion?

Edited April 5, 2009 by jbrid

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

Moved to US Embassy and Consulate forum at OP's request.

[I Miss Her 0]

The normal response to this post is the infamous Reciprocity website at travel.state.gov. The question is what to do after this procedure has been followed but still no police certificate is obtained?

This is specifically regarding Ghana. My fiance lived there for 3 years and needs a police certificate. As with many developing countries, Ghana doesn't seem to have the procedures in place to fill these types of requests. In addition, the recent election there brought a new political party into power, so there is a changing of the guard occurring now. She started trying to get this in late January while we were waited for the NOA2. Well, now we have the NOA2 and every attempt to get the Ghana police certificate has failed. Because she lived there for so long, she has several contacts that should be able to help. Unfortunately, nothing has been successful and she is left with the prospect of travel to Ghana and visiting the police headquarters in person. That would be very unfortunate and very costly.

Recently she called the embassy in Tokyo, paid $20 USD to ask a question (yes, that's right, it costs $20 to ask them a question), and asked the representative if it would be possible to get an exemption. The representative responded by pointing her to the Reciprocity website.

My questions for the forum are:

1. Has anyone ever gotten an exemption? Meaning, permission from the US embassy to omit a certain police certificate on the grounds that it is nearly impossible to obtain. Obviously, we would expect to show the US embassy the various ways in which we tried to get it.

2. Has anyone ever sought assistance (and gotten it) from a US Congressman or Senator? Is it possible to plead your case to an elected official and ask them to in turn plead with the offshore US embassy. I realize this may sound silly but I am willing to consider any option at this point.

3. Is this something that a lawyer could assist with? We could weigh the cost of her flight to Ghana against the lawyer fees and see which is most cost effective.

Thanks for any input you can provide.

This police certificate nonsense has really thrown a monkey wrench into the operation. We were excited to get the NOA2 a couple weeks ago but our excitement was quickly dampened by the reality of this other hurdle. We are approaching desperation mode. I may also try and call the Tokyo Embassy (pay another $20) and plead with them in English. Maybe that could do it.

Thanks again VJ'ers!

WOOPS! I posted this in the wrong forum. Can someone please move it to US Embassy and Consulate General Discussion?

Most likely, you have gone through the following piece of information:

Police Records

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/reciproc...ocity_3568.html

Ghana Police Clearance Certificate: Available. Residents of Ghana should report to the headquarters branch of the Criminal Investigations Division of the Ghana Police Authority in Accra, where a fingerprint sample will be taken. Cost for preparation of the certificate is approximately $7 USD (higher for expedited service), payable in local currency, for preparation within 7 days. Non-residents should forward a letter of request for a Police Certificate for Immigration Purposes. Accompanying the letter should be a certified sample of the applicant's fingerprints and an international money order in the amount of $80 USD made out to "Commissioner of Police, Ghana." Forward these documents to the following address:

Commissioner of Police

Criminal Investigations

Department Headquarters

PO Box 505

Accra, Ghana

***************************************

However, what I find here:

Do not attempt to obtain police certificates covering residence in any of the following countries, as they are not available: http://www.***removed***/immigration/police-certificates.html

And Ghana is listed there. It may be outdated and old information there as NVC require PCC and I believe there is no exception for it.

[jbrid 0]

Most likely, you have gone through the following piece of information:

Police Records

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/reciproc...ocity_3568.html

Yes, that is the Reciprocity website that I mentioned in my original post. Those procedures may work for some countries, but not Ghana.

However, what I find here:

Do not attempt to obtain police certificates covering residence in any of the following countries, as they are not available: http://www.***removed***/immigration/police-certificates.html

And Ghana is listed there. It may be outdated and old information there as NVC require PCC and I believe there is no exception for it.

Thanks for the info. That is interesting but I suspect it is out of date like you said.

[Nik+Heather 121]

Most likely, you have gone through the following piece of information:

Police Records

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/reciproc...ocity_3568.html

Yes, that is the Reciprocity website that I mentioned in my original post. Those procedures may work for some countries, but not Ghana.

So you sent off your $80 and certified fingerprints into a black hole and nothing came back? I'm confused about why they don't work for Ghana when there's a specific address for sending Ghana requests? What happened when you tried?

Also, have you considered trying to contact the US Embassy for Ghana? May be another $20. question, but cheaper than her going in person.