K1 Original Copy of Police Clearance

[milena stankovic 0]

Hello everyone, 

 

I have a question regarding providing an original copy of the police clearance for the K1 interview. Our I-129F petition was approved a month ago, and I’m in the process of gathering documents for the embassy interview stage. 

 

I recently applied for a job in South Korea that requires a police clearance as part of the application process. I had to submit the original hard copy of my police clearance. As far as I know, immigration here discards the original documents after a while and only keeps digital hard copies. If I obtain a copy of my police clearance with a signature and stamp from the immigration office stating its authenticity, would that be sufficient enough for the embassy to accept it when I have my interview? 

 

Obtaining an original copy from my home country would take 6+ months unless I pay $200 to have it expedited. 

 

I would appreciate any guidance on this matter from those who have gone through the embassy interview process. 

[meladee 160]

Can you clarify where you're getting your police clearance from?

 

(We'd also appreciate if you'd fill in a timeline, having more timelines in the database is valuable for the community!)

 

You can read about specific requirements for different documents here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country.html

Just select your country using the menu on the left.

[milena stankovic 0]

Thank you. Police clearance form South Africa. Our case was approved on 12 April 2023. However, I'm currently working in South Korea and we plan on transferring our case to the Embassy in Seoul once we have our case number from NVC. 

Edited May 20, 2023 by milena stankovic

[Redro 4,601]

50 minutes ago, milena stankovic said:

Thank you. Police clearance form South Africa. Our case was approved on 12 April 2023. However, I'm currently working in South Korea and we plan on transferring our case to the Embassy in Seoul once we have our case number from NVC. 

You’ll need to get another police clearance from SA. They want originals not copies… 

Also, currently it is taking SAPS about 4 weeks to issue police clearance certs not 6 months. 
At the height of their inefficiency I only had to wait 8 weeks and paid $200.

Get a family member to submit your clearance if you don’t want to pay that much… 

 

Don’t pay the MRV fee before you request the transfer:

• If you are requesting a transfer for a K Visa, the receiving Embassy or Consulate has the discretion to approve or deny the acceptance of a K visa application from an applicant outside the consular district.  Contact the potential gaining U.S. embassy or consulate in writing to request a transfer of your case and include the reason for the transfer request.  If you paid the MRV fee at the original post and the transfer request to a new post is subsequently approved, a new visa fee will be required.  

Edited May 20, 2023 by Redro

[jan22 2,912]

50 minutes ago, milena stankovic said:

Thank you. Police clearance form South Africa. Our case was approved on 12 April 2023. However, I'm currently working in South Korea and we plan on transferring our case to the Embassy in Seoul once we have our case number from NVC. 

If I understand your post, you would be asking South Korean immigration to authenticate a South African document.  That is not possible -- only the issuing country could authenticate an official document.  There are clear procedures on the police clearance needed and how to obtain it that you must follow. 

 

[AndiB 661]

37 minutes ago, Redro said:

You’ll need to get another police clearance from SA. They want originals not copies… 

Also, currently it is taking SAPS about 4 weeks to issue police clearance certs not 6 months. 
At the height of their inefficiency I only had to wait 8 weeks and paid $200.

Get a family member to submit your clearance if you don’t want to pay that much… 

 

Don’t pay the MRV fee before you request the transfer:

• If you are requesting a transfer for a K Visa, the receiving Embassy or Consulate has the discretion to approve or deny the acceptance of a K visa application from an applicant outside the consular district.  Contact the potential gaining U.S. embassy or consulate in writing to request a transfer of your case and include the reason for the transfer request.  If you paid the MRV fee at the original post and the transfer request to a new post is subsequently approved, a new visa fee will be required.  

wasn't their point that they could get it faster but it'd cost $200, which is what you did? Although it says on their website it takes about two weeks from receive to issue

[Redro 4,601]

23 minutes ago, AndiB said:

wasn't their point that they could get it faster but it'd cost $200, which is what you did? Although it says on their website it takes about two weeks from receive to issue

Well… there is no way to expedite a South African PCC. And I didn’t expedite my application I paid an agent to submit my paperwork  (most people either pay an agent or ask a family member to take your application to the closest police station…).  Maybe you can submit it directly to Pretoria but I’ve never done that… 
So, OP is misinformed about that. 
There was a company charging ZAR5000 ($257)  to expedite PCCs inside SA but turns out those PCCs were forged. They added maybe ZAR2000 to the service if you were overseas… 

Getting the PCC from SA to Korea will probably cost OP ZAR1,430 (that’s how much I paid last year) when I had my PCC sent to Korea… I’m terrible at math and converting from ZAR to USD but just checked and it comes out to $76…. 
I stated I paid $200 total because I made a trip to the South African embassy to get my fingerprints done and added in the price of travel to Seoul and staying over a night… But, if OP is not near Seoul they can just go to a local Korean Police station and get their fingerprints done there… which will also lower the overall cost. 
 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Redro

[AndiB 661]

2 hours ago, Redro said:

Well… there is no way to expedite a South African PCC. And I didn’t expedite my application I paid an agent to submit my paperwork  (most people either pay an agent or ask a family member to take your application to the closest police station…).  Maybe you can submit it directly to Pretoria but I’ve never done that… 
So, OP is misinformed about that. 
There was a company charging ZAR5000 ($257)  to expedite PCCs inside SA but turns out those PCCs were forged. They added maybe ZAR2000 to the service if you were overseas… 

Getting the PCC from SA to Korea will probably cost OP ZAR1,430 (that’s how much I paid last year) when I had my PCC sent to Korea… I’m terrible at math and converting from ZAR to USD but just checked and it comes out to $76…. 
I stated I paid $200 total because I made a trip to the South African embassy to get my fingerprints done and added in the price of travel to Seoul and staying over a night… But, if OP is not near Seoul they can just go to a local Korean Police station and get their fingerprints done there… which will also lower the overall cost. 
 

you can send a cheque or pay into their acc directly according to their website and send the application direct to Pretoria. Dunno how much I trust international mail + ZA mail etc etc and would def rather go via an agency if not able to use family. I believe even if you send direct to Pretoria they will not return it to a foreign address and you must nominate an agency to pick it up or friend/family.

Police is probably fine, I've found other documents like birth cert arrive waaaaayyyyy faster when you go via an agency, I always assume inside man or bribe 😂

[AndiB 661]

8 hours ago, milena stankovic said:

Hello everyone, 

 

I have a question regarding providing an original copy of the police clearance for the K1 interview. Our I-129F petition was approved a month ago, and I’m in the process of gathering documents for the embassy interview stage. 

 

I recently applied for a job in South Korea that requires a police clearance as part of the application process. I had to submit the original hard copy of my police clearance. As far as I know, immigration here discards the original documents after a while and only keeps digital hard copies. If I obtain a copy of my police clearance with a signature and stamp from the immigration office stating its authenticity, would that be sufficient enough for the embassy to accept it when I have my interview? 

 

Obtaining an original copy from my home country would take 6+ months unless I pay $200 to have it expedited. 

 

I would appreciate any guidance on this matter from those who have gone through the embassy interview process. 

Redro has already advised this but I would second finding a trustworthy  agency to do this for you. There are many as expats are numerous from ZA. The official website says 14-15 days for a PC to be generated so 6months+ seems hella sus. Either way the only way to obtain ZA police cert seems to be via a local or an agency as they will not send it abroad for you. You can get the fingerprints done at a local station to you probably, most places offer it.
https://www.saps.gov.za/services/applying_clearence_certificate.php

[Redro 4,601]

4 minutes ago, AndiB said:

you can send a cheque or pay into their acc directly according to their website and send the application direct to Pretoria. Dunno how much I trust international mail + ZA mail etc etc and would def rather go via an agency if not able to use family. I believe even if you send direct to Pretoria they will not return it to a foreign address and you must nominate an agency to pick it up or friend/family.

Police is probably fine, I've found other documents like birth cert arrive waaaaayyyyy faster when you go via an agency, I always assume inside man or bribe 😂

Trick with birth cert etc  is to have a family member apply for it in a rural/farm town… you get it super quick that way… so I’m sure agents have special relationships with certain Home Affairs offices to jump the line 😉😉… either way when factoring in the cost of FedEx and asking a family member to do the legwork paying an agent is slightly more expensive… 

[Ryan H 3,795]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[milena stankovic 0]

Thank you for everyone's input. I highly appreciate the advice.