Online Police Certificate Application

[ChasUno 101]

There is no ambiguity, read the first question, then answer yes or no, not forgetting to include all stepped down misdemeanours.

This is exactly the reason for the second part of the question. If you have an arrest, conviction or formal caution that was stepped down then it helps to mention it. If it has fallen off their records then it's not going to show up anyway.

I do agree that a lot of the paperwork for a visa seems to be nothing more than an exercise to keep a penpusher in a job.

What I meant by ambiguity, is that the first line of the question is asking a specific yes/ no question, but the second line I feel confuses the matter because it makes it appear that you have to list all those that you ticked 'yes' to, even though it only states 'you must declare all convictions'. Looking at the comments above, many are not sure what exactly constitutes a 'conviction' other than being formally charged in a court of law.

I feel that 7.11 should only have asked:

"Have you ever been arrested, cautioned, warned or reprimanded or been convicted of a criminal offence in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland?" (yes/ no)

then question 7.12 should have stated:

if you have answered 'yes' to 7.11 and you were convicted, please complete sections 7.12 - 7.15.

As mentioned, unless you were formally convicted in a court, then you wouldn't have any information to complete 7.12 - 7.15. Thus from my understanding, if applicable you can answer 'yes' to 7.11 and ignore 7.12 - 7.15 UNLESS you received a conviction in a court of law. Thing is, I find this all so daft because surely the point of the Police Records check is for THEM to look up their database and tell the applicant what details they hold. As I also stated above, I can't remember the date I had to attend the Police Station 30 years nor what I got other than a telling off by the inspector. I'll just submit my application with only 7.11 ticked as 'yes' and see what happens.

This scenario reminds me a lot of question 15 in the I-129F, whereby many people ticking the 'yes' box thought they had to fill in 15a - 15h as well. A good questionnaire should be intuitive and self explanatory. If people are unclear on what exactly they should be filling in, then the questions haven't been worded well enough (in my opinion).

I do agree with Nich-Nick that we Brits worry and over analyse too much. However, part of that reason is because we are dealing with government bureaucracy (their nit picking reputations often precede them), and we're all striving to ensure that our applications are done right first time and that we do not in any way jeopardise our chances of the process running smoothly. We also all seem to know of cases where the slightest hiccup holds everything back, hence the British anxiety coming through!

[ChasUno 101]

Just to clarify my take on this now (sorry, I can get a bit wordy in posts so I'll put it in a nutshell!)

If you ever were "arrested, cautioned, warned or reprimanded or been convicted of a criminal offence" then tick "yes" for question 7.11. Then only complete 7.12 - 7.15 if you were convicted in a court of law and received a sentence. Otherwise, leave 7.12 - 7.15 blank.

Edited March 29, 2015 by ChasUno

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

I don't see the ambiguity. Seems clear to me.

7.11=YES

7.12 List FIRST arrest, caution, warning, reprimand, conviction

7.13 (date of court hearing) N/A if you didn't go to court.

7,14 (court) N/A if you didn't go to court.

7.15 (disposal/sentence details) Tell whatever you can about fine, let go, picked up the potato chip, jail

7.16. Repeat above if there was a second offense, or if not N/A, N/A, N/A, N/A

7.17

7.18

7.19

------------------

7.11= NO

7.12 N/A

7.13 N/A

7,14 N/A

7.15 N/A

7.16 N/A

7.17 N/A

7.18 N/A

7.19 N/A

Note directions:

Ensure all sections are completed in BLOCK CAPITALS and in black ink. Fields that are not applicable should be marked N/A.

Note: Court and court dates are not mandatory fields. No red asterisk. If you got a caution, there is no court, but they still want the other fields.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Nich-Nick

[ChasUno 101]

Right, I'm learning a lot of things with regards to this whole Visa process. One important realisation is: don't try and fill in forms when sick as I was trying to do (managed to pick up a mild flu like virus from work). It's all too easy to delve too deeply into questions with a fuzzy mind, and then not being able to see the wood for the trees. And Nich-Nick is correct in interpreting the questions as per the above post. Nich-Nick is nearly always correct anyway, so I should have learnt by now not to challenge her!

Anyway, I've completed the Police Certificate application online so I thought I'd update everyone on the process.

The good news, is that it seems fairly easy and painless. As long as you've prepared beforehand and have all the necessary documents scanned, in the correct format and size, and ready to upload. Also, the questions seemed to be a lot more linear and clear compared with the downloadable form version. Some of the additional question only come up after you tick certain boxes, so if they don't apply they don't appear on the screen. Answering the questions seemed very intuitive and logical, the only slight issue was with my 'conviction' in 1985. I didn't know the exact date, so I only put in the month and year, which was accepted. I then briefly explained what the offence was, and also that it was so long ago that I didn't know the exact date nor 'conviction', and that I didn't have any records regarding them either (I never got any!) It remains to be seen whether such a record even exists.

For those wishing to do the Police Certificate online, you can do so if you can get all the required documents and a suitable person is willing to verify you (you only need to supply their details).

A scanner is essential (I bought a used Canon Lide 90 from Ebay for £1.23!)

You need the following to apply online:

• A UK sized recent passport photo to scan from. I got 5 x done at a "Photo-Me" booth in Tescos for £5. I will need 4 (I think) for the medical/ interview. I just scanned in one picture in a normal scan mode to upload with the certificate.
• A scan of the two main pages of your passport.
• 2 x proof of your address. I used 1 x TalkTalk online bill (in PDF format), and I scanned the latest copy of my Barclaycard bill, both clearly showing my address.
• Driving licence number (if applicable).
• National Insurance Number.
• The name, email and telephone number of the person willing to verify you (helps that a good friend of mine is a Police Constable). It didn't ask for his address.
• A suitable Credit/ Debit card to make payment. £45 for a standard service. More if you need the certificate expedited.

That's pretty much it. Ensure all scans are no greater than 2MB. If they are, load them into an imaging program and re-save them again as a JPG. It should compress it further and will fall below 2MB. The whole process took around 15 - 20 mins, which included resizing one of the scans, and also waiting for my friend to get back to me (I couldn't remember if he was an Officer or a Constable). It certainly seems a lot less hassle compared with making photocopies and having to mail applications via post.

When applying for the Police Certificate, I strongly recommend the online route

Edited April 20, 2015 by ChasUno