How to get your police clearance certificate
A simple explanation of how it works, how long it takes, and what you need to apply.
If you apply to work overseas, your potential employer will ask you to provide a non-criminal record, otherwise known as a police clearance certificate so that you can apply for a work permit.
The process of getting one is fairly easy; however, waiting for it to arrive after applying is a whole different story.
Note that this article only explains how you get a police clearance certificate if you know for a fact that you don’t have a criminal record. If there is or ever has been a criminal case opened against you, the process might differ.
The first step is to go to your nearest police station and apply for a police clearance. Note that you will not go to the same counter as where you go to certify documents or where you open cases. There is a special office at the station where you can apply for your police clearance certificate. Try to call your station before your visit, and ask what the room number is for police clearance applications.
Take your ID or passport and a certified copy thereof with you. Also, take R114 cash to pay for the application (note that the price might change, so try to take a little extra money with you). Take the exact change because the cashiers often don’t have change.
The officer in the room will ask you for details such as your address, telephone number, etc. Then he/ she will take your fingerprints.
After taking fingerprints, he/ she will send you to the cashiers to pay for the application and you will get a receipt. Take the receipt back to the officer to finalise your application. You will get proof that you have applied.
After this, you wait. It takes 10 days to six weeks for you to receive the police clearance certificate after you have applied. This is because the police station sends the application to the offices in Pretoria where criminal records are stored. There it will be processed, and then sent back to your police station.
The offices will send you a message saying that they are busy processing your application and once they’ve finalised the certificate, they’ll send another message to tell you that it has been finalised.
Your station will give you a call as soon as they’ve received the certificate. In previous years, you were allowed to take your police clearance application to Pretoria yourself, but the law has changed and you are not allowed to do that any more.
Try to make a few certified copies of your police clearance once you have it, as it is a very long process to do over if you accidentally lose the original.
Police clearances are valid for six months from the date of issue.
For more information about this topic, visit https://www.saps.gov.za/services/applying_clearence_certificate.php
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