Police Clearance Certificates - K1 Visa

[M1515 0]

Hi,

My fiance and I are applying for the K1 visa.

I live in Australia as the beneficiary. I know that police certificates will be requested down the line, but the expedite the process I was going to get the certificates ready and granted before the USCIS asks for them.

My question is...

How old is too old for a police clearance certificate to be useful for this application. I have to request for one from South Africa which can take up to 3 months so that is why I want to do it ASAP. I read somewhere that the certificate cannot be older than 1 year.

Thank you

[TheCaptain 67]

The police certificate cannot be more than 12 months old.

The Australian certificate will take between 4 and 6 weeks to be delivered after it has been submitted.

[M1515 0]

@TheCaptain

Thanks for clarifying that!

At what point during the process are the police clearance certificates actually requested?

[Limey 551]

If you are no longer in the country from where you require the police certificate, it does not have an expiry.

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/Supporting_documents.html

"Important: Police certificates expire after one year, unless the certificate was issued from your country of previous residence and you have not returned there since the police certificate was issued."

So if you are no longer in South Africa, and won't be returning before your interview then you can obtain the certificate now, and not worry about the expiry date on it. When you think about it, this makes perfect sense... if you can show your record is clear today in South Africa, then if you don't return, you can't have committed any offences there since the certificate was issued.

As to the point in the process - you need them at the interview.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Limey