Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) is issued on the basis of Police Verification Report received in respect of the passport held by the applicant. A Police Clearance Certificate is an official document that is issued by the police service of the relevant country by certifying the criminal record of the applicant. Usually the clearance certificate is issued on official, watermarked paper, bears the official stamp of the police service from that country and is signed by an authorized government official. Every person who resides permanently in a country for six months or more even after the age of 18 years requires a Police Clearance Certificate from that country when applying for visa or immigration services.

Why is Police Verification essential?

A police certificate is an official document issued as a result of a background check by the police or government agency of a country to enumerate any criminal records that the applicant may have.Criminal records may include arrest, conviction, and possibly criminal proceedings. A police certificate is also known as good citizen certificate good conduct certificate, police clearance certificate, national police history check or judicial record extracts..

How it is done?

In Police verification all private employers from employing candidates without obtaining their antecedents (including his/her full name, residential address, hometown address and relevant documents pertaining to such information) prior to their recruitment.  Further, once such details of the employees have been obtained, the employer is required to submit to the local police station having jurisdiction over the employer’s establishment for verification of the same.  It is important to note that private employers are forbidden from approaching private entities for the verification of antecedents of the employees proposed to be recruited and it is compulsory that such verifications be obtained only through the jurisdictional police station.
Pending such verification of antecedents by the police station with jurisdiction over the employer’s establishment, private employers may employ these candidates.  However, in such case, it is advisable to ensure that the employment of the candidate is subject to the verification and the confirmation of the antecedents.  It would be advisable, as a matter of caution, to ensure that the employment contract expressly provides that the employment of the candidate is subject to clearance from the jurisdictional police.