Clarification on Procedures for Saudi Police Clearances

Apparently, this advisory from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh on How to Get Saudi Police Clearance is now useless.  A Clarification on Procedures for Saudi Police Clearances was recently posted at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh's website.

In a nutshell, the new advisory states that you need a representative (friend, co-worker, etc) who is still in Saudi to process your application.  The embassy will not help you if you don't have a representative.

So what is to be done if the Visa Office required submission of Saudi Police Clearance and you no longer know anyone who is still in Saudi?  Simple, just write a letter of explanation and attached copy of the advisory from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh posted June 26, 2013:

If the applicant is no longer residing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:

• The applicant must designate a representative residing in Saudi Arabia who will transact with the Embassy and the Saudi authorities regarding the applicant’s Saudi police clearance. The Embassy will only entertain or provide related services regarding applications for Saudi police clearance with the presence of a designated representative of the applicant, who will personally transact with the Embassy and the Saudi authorities.

• The applicant must send to his designated representative, not to the Embassy, the following:
  • A letter authorizing the designated representative to transact on behalf of the applicant;
  • Duly-accomplished fingerprint card (with prints of all fingers) obtained through the relevant police authority of the country where the applicant is presently residing. If the applicant is in the Philippines, he or she should get a fingerprint card from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or the Philippine National Police (PNP);
  • Photocopy of passport used while applicant was resident in Saudi Arabia clearly showing the applicant’s photo/data page and all issued visas;
  • Copy of applicant’s Saudi residence permit (iqama);
  • Two (2) recently-taken 2” x 2” colored pictures with white background; and,
  • Other relevant documents, if any, to support the application for police clearance.
  • Fees:
    • Notarial fee of SAR 100.00 for the Embassy’s “Seen and Noted” stamp on the fingerprint card.
    • Authentication fee of SAR 30.00 for Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ authentication service.

• The applicant’s designated representative should proceed to the Embassy and have the applicant’s fingerprint card stamped with “Seen and Noted.” The representative should also pay the notarial fee of SAR 100.00

• The designated representative should then proceed to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have the fingerprint card authenticated. The representative should also pay the authentication fee of SAR 30.00 to the Saudi Ministry. Over the counter stamping / signature is done by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs within 1 day.

• After the Ministry, the designated representative should proceed to the Dirah Police Headquarters in Riyadh. The designated representative should submit to police officials the fingerprint card. The representative should follow any further instructions by Saudi police officials.

• The fingerprint card, with the Saudi police clearance in the form of a stamp stating, NO CRIMINAL RECORD, and signature, is usually issued by the Saudi police within a week. Once released, the representative should make arrangements to send the fingerprint card with the Saudi police clearance back to the applicant.

Applicants residing outside the Kingdom are reminded not to wire money to the Embassy nor send cash along with their documents via courier. The Embassy will not entertain applicants who are abroad who do not have a designated representative residing in the Kingdom.

Furthermore, the Embassy stresses that the Philippine Government is not obligated to assist a Filipino citizen in acquiring the citizenship of a foreign country.

Read the full texts of the advisory here.

How to Get Saudi Police Clearance for those who already left the Kingdom

UPDATE (July 2, 2013): Clarification on the Procedures for Saudi Police Clearance

Few years ago, I posted information on how to get Saudi Police Clearance specially for those who already left Saudi.  Seeking help from Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant and Workers Affairs (OUMWA) used to be the alternative but there is a better alternative now.

The Philippine Embassy in KSA issued this advisory last February 2012 stating the procedure, requirements and processing fee required.  

The following are the requirements:

• Request Letter addressed to the Embassy stating the purpose of the Police
• Clearance and email address, if any;
• Duly accomplished Fingerprint Card obtained through the State Police of the country where the applicant is presently residing;
• Photocopy of passport used in Saudi Arabia clearly showing the applicant’s  photograph and all visas;  - Copy of Saudi residence permit (iqama);
• Two (2) recent taken 2 X 2 (inches) colored pictures with white background;
• Other relevant document, if any, to support the application for Police  Clearance;   

Processing Fees:

• Embassy’s notarial fee - SR 100.00 (US$25.00)
• Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs authentication fee: SR 30.00 (US$  7.50)

For those applying, you will have to send your documents to the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.  Processing period is about two to three months upon  receipt of documents and fees. 

How to get Police Certificate or Police Clearance from Australia

For purposes of Immigrant Visa application to Canada, a police certificate or police clearance from Australia is required if you stayed there for 6 months or more. You need to get Standard Disclosure – name check from Australian Federal Police, not the police certificate issued by state police authority.

How to get Police Certificate or Police Clearance from Australia

First, you need Australian Federal Police National Police Check (NPC) Application Form. Applicants may obtain the form for the Australian Federal Police check at:

Criminal Records – National Police Check
Australian Federal Police
Locked Bag 8550
Canberra City ACT 2601
Australia
Telephone from Australia: (02) 6202-3333
Telephone from elsewhere: +61 2 6202-3333
Website: www.afp.gov.au

IMPORTANT: When filling out the Australian Federal Police National Police Check (NPC) Application Form, enter Code Number 35 in section 1 (Purpose of NPC).

Temporary NBI Clearance Processing Centers

For those asking, here's the list of Temporary NBI Clearance Processing Centers where you may process your NBI Clearance as part of the requirements for Canada Visa Application.

Mega Data Corp. (MDC), the company that ran the clearance processing system at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the longest time withdraw its systems after its contract ended on June 30, 2011. Unfortunately, the NBI was not prepared for this. Talk about foresight, not.

Expect long lines of people applying for NBI clearance so it is best if you go there really early.

Temporary NBI Clearance Processing Centers

NBI MAIN OFFICE, TAFT AVENUE MANILA
MONDAY TO FRIDAY - 7:00AM TO 5:00PM
SATURDAY - 10:00AM TO 7:00PM
No. of applicants that can be accommodated: 2,000 persons


ROBINSONS PLACE ERMITA (BASEMENT 1)
M. ADRIATICO COR. PEDRO GIL ST. ERMITA, MANILA
MONDAY TO FRIDAY - 8:00AM TO 5:00PM
SATURDAY - 10:00AM TO 7:00PM
No. of applicants that can be accommodated: 500 persons

ROBINSONS OTIS (LEVEL 2)
DR. PAZ MENDOZA GUANZON ST., PACO, MANILA
MONDAY TO FRIDAY - 8:00AM TO 5:00PM
SATURDAY - 10:00AM TO 7:00PM
No. of applicants that can be accommodated: 500 persons

ROBINSONS GALLERIA (EAST LANE, BASEMENT 1)
EDSA COR. ORTIGAS AVENUE, QUEZON CITY
MONDAY TO FRIDAY - 8:00AM TO 5:00PM
SATURDAY - 10:00AM TO 7:00PM
No. of applicants that can be accommodated: 500 persons


ROBINSONS METRO EAST PASIG (LEVEL 4)
MARCOS HIGHWAY, BRGY. DELA PAZ, PASIG CITY
MONDAY TO FRIDAY - 8:00AM TO 5:00PM
SATURDAY - 10:00AM TO 7:00PM
No. of applicants that can be accommodated: 500 persons

ROBINSONS CAINTA (LEVEL 2)
ORTIGAS AVENUE EXTENSION, JUNCTION CAINTA, RIZAL
MONDAY TO FRIDAY - 8:00AM TO 5:00PM
SATURDAY - 10:00AM TO 7:00PM
No. of applicants that can be accommodated: 500 persons

Ever Gotesco Grand Central (3rd floor, Cinema 5)
Rizal Avenue Extension (Monumento), Caloocan City
MONDAY TO FRIDAY - 8:00AM TO 5:00PM
SATURDAY - 10:00AM TO 7:00PM
No. of applicants that can be accommodated: 500 persons

Ever Gotesco Manila Plaza (3rd floor, Cinema 3)
C.M. Recto Avenue, Manila
MONDAY TO FRIDAY - 8:00AM TO 5:00PM
SATURDAY - 10:00AM TO 7:00PM
No. of applicants that can be accommodated: 500 persons

Please check the official National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) website for updates.

For those planning to send application to Centralized Intake Office (CIO), please note that police clearance may be submitted to Canadian Visa Office once you received a positive assessment from CIO.

Although highly recommended that you submit your application togther with the police clearance, you shouldn't let it delay the filing of your application. It now takes longer to get NBI clearance. Remember that there is a cap in the number of applications to be received by CIO. It's 500 per occupation. The longer you delay, the more you are risking your eligibility.

How to Obtain Police Clearance

Information on how to obtain police clearance for purposes of Canadian Visa Application is actually available at Citizenship and Immigration Canada website. But for some reason, I often receive an email asking for information on how to get a Police Clearance or Certicate from countries where they worked before. The common problem applicants face is that they seem to think it's impossible to get a police clearance since they are already in their home countries.

I have posted here before information on how to obtain police clearance from selected countries:

- How to get NBI Clearance from outside the Philippines

- How to get Saudi Police Clearance or Certificate

- How to get Canadian Police Clearance

- How to obtain Vietnam Police Certificate

- How to get Police Certificate from Australia

If you need information on how to obtain police clearance from other countries not listed above, you will find information from Citizenship and Immigration Canada website.

If for some reason you can't get a police certificate from a certain country, make sure you tried all options possible before informing the Canadian Visa Office that you can't submit one.

How to obtain Vietnam Police Certificate (Justice Record)

Do you need a Vietnam Police Certificate or Justice Record for your Canada Visa Application?

Information on how to obtain Vietnam Police Certificate is available in the Vietnam Embassy in Manila.

Here's where you can contact Vietnam Embassy in Manila:

Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Manila, Philippines
670 Pablo Ocampo
(formerly Vito Cruz), Malate
Manila, Philippines
City: Manila
Phone: (+63) 2 525 2837 or (+63) 2 521 6843
Fax: (+63) 2 526 0472
Web Site: http://www.vietnamembassy-philippines.or…
Email: vnembph@info.com.ph

You will need the the following:

Completed Application Form

Certified copies of passport and visas

Certified Power of Attorney

Certified copies of Temporary Registration Book or certified copy of Certificate of Temporary Residence issued by the Sub-district Police where the applicant used to reside.

Please note that the applicants are required to submit 2 sets of documents. Application forms and power of attorney form may be downloaded here.

How to get Canadian Police Clearance

For Canada Visa application purposes, Canadian Visa Office normally requires Police Certificate from countries where you stayed for six months and more. If you previously worked in Canada and is now in your home country, here's how to get Canadian Police Clearance from outside Canada.

1. Contact the nearest police force which offers fingerprinting services. The RCMP will accept fingerprint forms from foreign countries that contain the following:

rolled and flat impressions of all ten fingers taken with black ink

full name, date of birth and sex of the applicant

the name and address of the police agency

the signature of the official taking the fingerprints

If the police service in your country does not have fingerprint forms for non-criminal purposes, you can obtain an RCMP C-216C form by contacting Civil Fingerprinting Screening Services (CFSS) e-mail at civilnps@rcmp-grc.gc.ca and provide the following information:

your name

mailing address, and

specify the number of forms required.

2. Applicants for immigration to Canada must enter the name and address of the Canadian Immigration Center, Embassy, Consulate or High Commission handling the case in the "Name and Address of Contributing Agency/Dept" portion of the C216C. If you have an immigration file number, write it below the address as a reference for immigration officials.

Ensure you provide:

your full name

date of birth

sex

mailing address

phone number

and/or fax number

and/or e-mail address

Do not provide any additional personal information with your request. This material provides no value to the service and will be destroyed.

3. Send your request to:

By mail:

The Director
Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services
RCMP, NPS Bldg.
1200 Vanier Parkway
Ottawa ON K1A 0R2

By courier:

The Director
Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services
RCMP, NPS Bldg., Loading Dock #1
1200 Vanier Parkway
Ottawa ON K1A 0R2

Before sending your request, make sure it contains the following:

original fingerprint form

full name

date of birth

sex

mailing address

phone number, fax number or email address

reason for application

processing fee ( if applicable)

third party consent letter (if applicable)

4. Processing fee is not required if the purpose is for Application for Immigration to Canada.

For more information on how to obtain Police Clearance or Police Certificate from Canada, click here to visit Royal Canadian Mounted Police official website.

Currently, the time to process criminal record verifications can be more than four months. In many cases it can be less; however, RCMP do not guarantee that you will have your reply in less than that amount of time.

Saudi Police Clearance or Certificate

UPDATE: Procedures for Police Clearance for those who left the Kingdom 

Are you being required by the Canadian Visa Office to submit Saudi Police Clearance or Saudi Police Certificate?

Here's how to obtain a Saudi Police Certificate.

If you need a police certificate, your immigration processing office will give you a request letter. If you have any questions about this, please contact your immigration processing office.

If your application is being processed at the Canadian High Commission in London, you are not required to obtain a police certificate until the London visa office sends you a police certificate request letter with instructions on how to apply.

If you are applying at the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE, you should submit the police certificate with your application. You can contact the visa office at fax: (971 2) 694-0396 or e-mail: abu-dhabi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca Please include your immigration file number if you have one.

For applications being processed at any other office, e-mail: riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca or fax: 966-1-488-9657. Please include the file number, the office where you applied and your mailing address. [Source]

The problem, however, is that Saudi Police Certificates are available only to current legal residents.

How to get a Saudi Police Clearance for non-residents?

For those in the US, check the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington DC website for the details on how to get a Saudi Police Clearance.

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Manila, however, does not process police certificate.

If you are a Filipino applicant currently residing in the Philippines and is being required to submit a Saudi Police Clearance by the Canadian Visa Office in Manila, you may seek the help of Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant and Workers Affairs (OUMWA). Go to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila. OUMWA will help you get the Saudi Police Clearance. The process may take 30-60 days. To make it easy for you, I'll post the required documents once I received a reply from OUMWA.

NBI Clearance

Once you are required by the Visa Office to update your documents prior to decision on your permanent residence visa application, one of the documents you need to submit is is the NBI Clearance.

Since a large number of our clients are overseas contract workers, one of the commonly asked question is how to get their NBI Clearance from abroad.

Here are the instructions from NBI website:

To get an NBI Clearance from abroad, here's what you should do:

You can visit the nearest Philippine Consulate Office and asked for a Fingerprint Card Form.

Fingerprint Card Form – fill up the personal data called for on both sides of this card truthfully and legibly.

Request the assistance/endorsement of the nearest Philippines Consulate Office for the police agency in your locality to have your fingerprints impressed (ROLLED IMPRESSION) on the appropriate spaces. The officer/person who fingerprinted you should sign his name state his official designation on the space provided for the purpose in the card.

In case you are a married woman, the order of writing your name is as follows:
-Your maiden surname (father’s surname).
-Your husband’s surname.
-Your first name or given name.
-Your maternal surname (family name of your mother)

Attach a latest copy of your 2”x2” photograph (white background), taken within three (3) months before this application at the appropriate box in the fingerprint card form.

Upon completion of this requirement, send back your form to NBI and enclose Money Order in the sum of Php 200.00 or any currency/bankdraft of its equivalent which is negotiable in the Philippines payable to the Director, National Bureau of Investigation, Taft Avenue, Ermita 1000 Manila, Philippines.

NBI will mail to you the corresponding clearance certificate after they have processed your application papers.

Upon receipt of your clearance certificate, please examine it for the presence of the embossed NBI DRY SEAL at its lower left portion, the clearance is invalid without it. Also, you must affix your clear and properly taken THUMBPRINT on the space provided for it in the clearance certificate before submitting it to your end-user, otherwise, your clearance will be subjected for further verification/authentication and will cause the delay of your immigration requirements.

To RENEW your NBI Clearance from abroad, here's what you should do:

Just send your previously issued clearance, attach a latest copy of your 2”x 2” photograph (white background), taken within three (3) months and enclose Money Order in the sum of Php 200.00 or any currency/bankdraft of its equivalent which is negotiable in the Philippines payable to the Director, National Bureau of Investigation, Taft Avenue, Ermita 1000 Manila, Philippines.

You may also send your authorized representative in any of the following Offices

NBI Clearance Center in Carriedo

NBI Satellite Offices

NBI Regional / District Offices

To process your NBI Clearance, together with your previously issued clearance, attach a latest copy of your 2”x 2” photograph (white background), taken within three (3) months.

Update the information that needs to be updated. NBI accepts changes in address and purpose, else write Same Data if there are no changes.

If there would be changes in your NAME, DATE OF BIRTH and PLACE OF BIRTH, NBI will require you to fill-up a new application form and attached a photocopy of your birth certificate.

You can visit the nearest Philippines Consulate Office and asked for a fingerprint card form  to write all personal data. Request the assistance/endorsement of the nearest Philippines Consulate Office for the police agency in your locality to have your fingerprints impressed (ROLLED IMPRESSION) on the appropriate spaces.

The officer/person who fingerprinted you should sign his name, state his official designation on the space provided for the purpose in the card. Then send it back to us.

*NBI Kiosks – does not accept renewal of clearance handed by your representative, even without corrections, they will take your picture personally. It does not accept any correction in NAME, DATE OF BIRTH and PLACE OF BIRTH.