Police Records in Australia

[amishbaby 407]

Hi, I have a question for my foreign fiancee who is in Australia. I realize that packet 3 is going to require him to get a police check/court records. Here's my question? Where does he go to obtain this? Does he just go to his local police station? He's working in Moree NSW right now. So would he go to the Moree Police Station and what would he exactly request? What about court records? Does he have to go to a court house to obtain them or if he's getting police records does he not have to worry about court records? How does this work? Can someone tell me and explain to me what he has to do to obtain these simply? We are looking into everything ahead of time. Just being prepared.

 

Thanks in advance!

[EmilyW 1,548]

I'm not K1 but the process is still the same, as far as I know.

 

He can get his police check via the Australian Federal Police: www.afp.gov.au.  He can fill out a form on that site, pay the fee and the police check will be done and sent to him in the post.  The check will cover all jurisdictions.  Make sure he selects Code 33 (this will make sense when he fills out the form) and not Code 35.  Code 35 only includes unspent offences and the consulate will want both spent and unspent (which is Code 33).  Allow at least 5 weeks for the check: sometimes they are quick (we got ours in a week) and other times not (I've heard of it taking up to five weeks).  The consulate does have a preference for finger print checks but no-one gets knocked back with the AFP check, so long as it's Code 33 and you include all known names.

 

Now, if he has offences to declare, he will need to bring as much information about the offences.  I'm not sure about NSW, but some Aussie jurisdictions have a central place to go to get detailed information on past offences.

Edited April 10, 2017 by EmilyW

[amishbaby 407]

1 minute ago, EmilyW said:

I'm not K1 but the process is still the same, as far as I know.

 

He can get his police check via the Australian Federal Police: www.afp.gov.au.  He can fill out a form on that site, pay the fee and the police check will be done and sent to him in the post.  The check will cover all jurisdictions.  Make sure he selects Code 33 (this will make sense when he fills out the form) and not Code 35.  Code 35 only includes unspent offences and the consulate will want both.  Allow at least 5 weeks for the check: sometimes they are quick (we got ours in a week) and other times not (I've heard of it taking up to five weeks).

 

Now, if he has offences to declare, he will need to bring as much information about the offences.  I'm not sure about NSW, but some Aussie jurisdictions have a central place to go to get detailed information on past offences.

Thank you, that was really helpful.

I also found this website. Can this website be used by any chance?

https://www.afpcheck.com/apply

[EmilyW 1,548]

I'm pretty sure you have to get the check done by an official government organization, so I would go with www.afp.gov.au.  The whole process of filling in the form takes around 10 minutes.

 

Good luck - love your profile pic.  You two look so happy together!

[amishbaby 407]

1 minute ago, EmilyW said:

I'm pretty sure you have to get the check done by an official government organization, so I would go with www.afp.gov.au.  The whole process of filling in the form takes around 10 minutes.

 

Good luck - love your profile pic.  You two look so happy together!

Yeah, I will just go with your suggestion! I went on that website. Does that website cover his area? Because on the website it says, 
 

"The Australian Federal Police (AFP) can only provide National Police Checks for:

• residents of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Jervis Bay Territory and external Commonwealth territories"
  
  I'm not sure if that includes his area? 
  
  If we can do that, that's what were gonna do instead. It seems so much easier. And thank you so much! We are very happy together. This waiting game really sucks! 

[amishbaby 407]

Also: @EmilyW

Fees

The fees for National Police Checks and related services are:

• $42.00 for each National Police Check application from a government department or an individual.
• $42.00 for each National Police Check application from a non-government organisation (eg: commercial entities like brokers, migration agents etc)
• $139.00 for a fingerprint and National Police Check application, where fingerprints are taken and processed by the AFP.
• $99.00 for a fingerprint and National Police Check application where fingerprints are supplied to the AFP on application.
  
  Which one would be the one the Consulate in Sydney is looking for?

[EmilyW 1,548]

@amishbaby - the first $42 one will do fine.  Sydney Consulate say they prefer the fingerprint check but we got the $42 one and it wasn't an issue.  You can spend the extra money if you want but it's not necessary.

 

Quote

 

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) can only provide National Police Checks for:

• residents of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Jervis Bay Territory and external Commonwealth territories"

 

If you read down, it also gives other reasons:

• people seeking employment with the Commonwealth Government
• people requiring a check under Commonwealth legislation
• Australian immigration purposes
• where the applicant resides overseas
• overseas employment
• overseas adoption
• visa applications for overseas travel.

The bolded reason at the bottom is the one for your fiance.  

Edited April 10, 2017 by EmilyW

[amishbaby 407]

5 minutes ago, EmilyW said:

@amishbaby - the first $42 one will do fine.  Sydney Consulate say they prefer the fingerprint check but we got the $42 one and it wasn't an issue.  You can spend the extra money if you want but it's not necessary.

 

If you read down, it also gives other reasons:

• people seeking employment with the Commonwealth Government
• people requiring a check under Commonwealth legislation
• Australian immigration purposes
• where the applicant resides overseas
• overseas employment
• overseas adoption
• visa applications for overseas travel.

The bolded reason at the bottom is the one for your fiance.  

Thanks again. It looks like he will have to go to his local police station and have the finger prints done. And then he can fill out the rest of the paper, and just send it over to them. Is he require to have finger prints done? Because it says if he has finger prints done, he has to download the form and can't submit the online version. I was hoping he could just do the online version instead but I'm not sure if he is required to get finger prints. Any help with this? 

 

[EmilyW 1,548]

We didn't get the finger print check and we were fine.  I've not heard of anyone being knocked back for doing the $42 check, so long as the check includes spent and unspent offences (hence Code 33) and includes all known names he might use.

 

We just filled in everything online and a week later had the check.

[amishbaby 407]

Just now, EmilyW said:

We didn't get the finger print check and we were fine.  I've not heard of anyone being knocked back for doing the $42 check, so long as the check includes spent and unspent offences (hence Code 33) and includes all known names he might use.

 

We just filled in everything online and a week later had the check.

Awesome. Were gonna go that route than, thanks again! 

[EmilyW 1,548]

You'll be fine.  Just remember Code 33.  Code 35 says to check it for immigration but, if you do that, you won't get the right check.  Pick Code 33.

[amishbaby 407]

5 hours ago, EmilyW said:

You'll be fine.  Just remember Code 33.  Code 35 says to check it for immigration but, if you do that, you won't get the right check.  Pick Code 33.

Got it!

[Frustrated74 23]

Are you sure that it needs to be code 33 as that is for when you are supplying the document to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection which is Australian Immigration.  I'm pretty sure I selected code 35 as that is for overseas employment/visa - for supply to a country other than Australia.  Now I'm concerned I have the wrong one.  What have other people done?