iamwaiting

Hi

I am currently at the stage of obtaining my UK police certificate(s).
Our lawyer has informed me, upon reading the 'Documents The Applicant Must Submit' webpage HERE , that I need to obtain a separate certificate for each address I have resided at for more than 6 months since the age of 16...

The text on the website itself reads:
IF the applicant…is living in their country of nationality at their current residence for more than 6 months
AND… is 16 years old or older
THEN the applicant needs a police certificate from… the police authorities of that locality.

This is a little ambiguous.

So, is this true? Do I need a separate one for each address over 6 months? I expect many of you are doing/have done the exact same thing as me recently... what did you do? Did you have problems just getting one for your most recent address?

At £35 a pop I'd rather not waste money unnecessarily. Any definitive help/info would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

meauxna

There is only ONE acceptable police cert that covers your entire jurisdiction. Please see the wiki for details, or the links from the London site for ACPO.

If you have only lived in the UK, you only need the one.

iamwaiting

Thank you very much for your quick response meauxna!

I have consulted the wiki. It does indeed say "If you have lived only in the UK, one national police certificate is sufficient for all UK localities." However, where is this taken from? Do we have an official source?

It does make sense upon further reading of the form as it actually says: "Have you lived at this address for 5 years or more? If No, please provide details of your previous address(es) for the last five years on the continuation sheet provided"

Thank you.

fatbrit

I'm more worried about your lawyer. Has s/he ever done this visa out of London before? The evidence would suggest not.

You only need one ACPO certificate for your residence in the UK.

iamwaiting

Funny you should say that.

We were just wondering the same thing... probably not. Many of these immigration lawyers in California largely deal with Mexican cases. If they hadn't come recommended by a lawyer friend of ours that works with this lawyer, we probably would be concerned by this.

meauxna

Yes! We do! And the link is in the wiki.. here is another quick, and I'm sorry, grumpy, reply.

Embassy of the US London
Documents required for the Visa Interview
# Police Certificate - Police certificates are required for each visa application aged 16 years or older. A separate certificate is required from the police of each country in which the applicant has lived for twelve months or more after the age of 16; the period is six months if country of birth or current nationality. This certificate must state cover the entire period of the applicant's residence in that area or country and state what the appropriate police authorities records show concerning each applicant including all arrests, the reason for the arrest(s), and the disposition of each case of which there is a record. Important Notice: If you are 16 years of age or over and were born in the United Kingdom or the UK is your current nationality you will require a police certificate to cover your period of residence of six months or more since reaching the age of sixteen. The period is twelve months for all other nationalities.

Additional Information - Police Certificates
Police Certificates

If you or accompanying member(s) of your family applying for a visa have resided in another country or countries, certificates covering residences of twelve months or more must be obtained (the period is six months if country of birth or current nationality). Generally, application for such certificates should be made directly to police authorities in the district in which you resided.

Applicants who have resided in the United States are not required to furnish a police certifiate to cover their period of residence as a clearance will be obtained on their behalf by the Department of State.

— More —

How to Request a U.K. Police Certificate
U.K. Police Certificates
How to obtain a police certificate for the United Kingdom

Immigrant visa applicants, who have resided in the United Kingdom for 6 months or more since the age of 16, are required to obtain a police certificate from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Further information is available from their website at http://www.acpo.police.uk/certificates.asp. This police certificate will serve to advise the U.S. Embassy, London whether or not any criminal conviction is held against him/her.

The police certificate will be sent to the address provided at the time of application. Please note that the Immigrant Visa Unit considers the police certificate valid for 12 months from the date of issuance, not six months as stated on the certificate.

Now I am NOT clicking through and filling out the application for you!

Your first call should have been to the lawyer to ask him to clarify it for you. Then you consult the Embassy site, and the DOS site if necessary. Supplement all your research with reading real life reports here.

iamwaiting

Great - thank you!
God you guys are the best!