balUK

Hi Guys,

I have applied for a government job in Canada. As I have not lived in Canada for the last five years so I will have to provide a police certificate from the UK, If I get through the interview stage. I know for the immigration purposes I can contact:

http://www.acro.police.uk

However, for the employment reasons someone (in one of the forums posts) has suggested the following website...

Disclosure Scotland

I was wondering if anyone has obtained a similar certificate for employment reasons. I would appreciate, if you could share your experience?

Thanks

quiltman

As I understand it, a police certificate - the ACRO one - purely checks for any criminal record, warnings etc. Usually this is all that is required for Immigration.
I know because I've just had to get new ones for my wife & I to complete our residents visa here.Ours actually states on the Certificate " For Immigration Purposes"

The disclosure Scotland is the equivalent to the old CRB check, done by employers if you are needed to come into contact with children or vulnerable adults. This check has 3 levels depending on the job you do. for example, before we emigrated here to the Philippines, I was a volunteer ambulance driver and had to have an Enhanced CRB - this is the highest level and involves not only criminal record check but also checks such as with your local police, sex offenders register and the national barred persons register. It is also specific to the job you are applying for. In the UK an employer obtains this check if you have contact with vulnerable people. there was a bit of a furore in the UK when the law was interpreted to mean parents helping at their childs school had to go through the checking process.

did not know Canadian employers wanted this, but if they do, THEY have to apply for it. You, yourself CANNOT, even though you will get a copy so you can check for errors. Thats made plain on the website.

balUK

Hi, thanks for this information. I understand the CRB check process in the UK and ACRO for immigration purposes. Actually, I received my interview letter today, it states:

"NOTE: If you resided outside of Canada in the last five years and are found to meet the staffing requirements after the interview and exam, you will be required to provide originals and copies of both sides of the following:
• (Canadian) Permanent Resident Card, or
• Canadian Citizenship certificate, and
• Certificate(s) issued by local police authorities in Canada or from countries where you resided in the last five years"

Now I hope certificates issued by local police authorities are sufficient. Otherwise, I have to contact Disclosure Scotland here (Disclosure Scotland). I can apply for a certificate myself according to the website.

The catch, however, is that their service is not setup for the UK citizens living abroad. According to this post (http://britishexpats.com/forum/immig...ficate-810144/) I have to ask for a paper based application which will take around six weeks to arrive in Canada. Then I can apply. After my application is reviewed, it will take another six weeks for them to send a certificate back to me.

I am just surprised to see how long this process will take and there are not many posts discussing this issue. I really hope that my employer does all the checks but that does not seem to be the case not according to the interview letter .

withabix

Off topic, but:

I (and all of my colleagues) had to get a 'Disclosure Scotland' done in the UK just because we were working in a multi-tenant office building that was also used by a local authority's Childrens' Services department.

I though that was pretty cheeky and that the local authority should have been footing the bill for all of these Disclosure Scotland applications, seeing as they were just another tenant in the building. It wasn't even their building...

Not sure what would have happened if anyone failed the screening...

quiltman

baluk,

Based on what you say then all you need is the standard UK Police Certificate - ACRO.
from what I can find out, the CRB equivalent only really applies to UK employers. Each country may have it's own requirement re other offences etc.Any crime for which you were arrested, cautioned etc will show on the Poloce Certificate.

I'd just go for that looking at what you say they want ,as the ACRO certificate includes ALL offences recorded, no matter where in the UK, so that covers local police authorities.

tweed_wearer

I've always wondered, why is it Disclosure Scotland for the rest of the UK?

beckiwoo

I'm interested about this as I'm planning on working with vulnerable people and wondering what would happen if they don't accept the ACPO