Police Certificates

[USxducer 0]

I am in the final stages of submitting the supporting documents to the NVC. Some of the supporting documents include photocopies of valid passport biographic page, wedding certificate, birth certificate, photo of applicant (passport equivalent), police certificates, etc.

I am concerned about the police certificates. We have obtained the police certificate were my wife currently lives. However, she has also lived in two other countries over the age of 18. In both cases, I have police certificates from these locations. However, the police certificates were issued in 2003 and 2006 respectively.

Do we have to get these police certificates reissued so they have a new date? I believe this will be problematic given where she is residing now.

Also, the NVC said we do not have to send in the photo of her (passport equivalent). This can be brought to the interview. Also, she has two valid passports, but the NVC said they only need a copy of from her country of nationality. Finally, NVC said that because I sent in the AOS via mail, then all future correspondences have to be via mail (this includes the supporting documents). I was hoping to email them to the NVC.

Please comment.

[NikLR 13,234]

Has she lived in those countries since that time? You can always check the reciprocity table on the NVC website on how to obtain a police certificate for a country you are no longer a resident of.

[USxducer 0]

No, she has not lived in those countries since that time.

Reciprocity tables? I thought those only applied to nonimmigrant visas. Please explain. Thank you.

[C and S 9]

http://abudhabi.usembassy.gov/iv_post_interview_faqs.html

“ 13. For how long is a police certificate valid?

For your country of residence, a police certificate is considered valid for 12 months from the date of issuance. Police certificates obtained from other countries where you previously resided are valid indefinitely, provided that you do not return to the country and reside for six months or more. “

I got this from Abu Dhabi Embassy website. I think it is true for all embassies.

[Patricia n Nathan 0]

Police Certificates are generally valid indefinitely, as it is true to the date it was issued. Therefore your wives Police Certificate truly reflects her police report as per 2003 and 2006 in the jurisdictions of those respective countries.

However, the US Embassy in India does clearly state that the certificate is valid for one year from the date of issuance. In our case if we had one from 2006 or earlier, we would probably need to get newly issued police certificate.

We are in the process of getting a police certificate from the UK (where neither of us are living) for the beneficiary. They seem to have a easy enough process to obtain one. However, I am sure most other countries are not as simple.

The Indian Embassy in the UK does issue such police certificates for any person who has ever lived in India. My first suggestion to you would be to get in touch with the local embassy of the countries in question, as this is probably not the first time they have had to assist with a Police Certificate.

Best of luck