Police Clearance Certificate For Green Card

Immigration to the US:

If you want to get an immigrant visa for the United States, you will have to fulfill a few requirements. But before you can be called for the interview, a family member or US employer must submit a petition on your behalf to the USCIS. Once the petition is approved, your interview will be scheduled. You will also receive an appointment letter that will mention instructions in detail and inform you of all the documents you will have to bring to the consulate on the day of the interview. You will have to take your birth certificate, visa photographs, marriage certificate (if applicable), evidence of financial support, and police clearance certificate with you.

What is a Police Clearance Certificate?

A Police Clearance Certificate or PCC is a certification which is issued by the local police authorities. The PCC includes all the details about a person’s life during their stay in a particular city or country. If the person has ever been arrested, it will be mentioned on the Police Clearance Certificate. The cause of arrest will also be listed on PCC. Sometimes, employers also ask employees for their criminal records. This helps them ensure the safety of their company.

Where to Get a PCC?

You won’t have to go to great lengths to obtain a PCC. You can visit the local police station that serves the area of your residence and submit an application for the issuance of a PCC. If you filled out the application form properly, then the law enforcement officials will issue your police records within seven working days. Along with submitting the application slip, you will also have to submit a fee, as well as a few documents including a valid passport and proof of evidence.

In some countries, you can also apply for a PCC at the passport office. You will be able to obtain the application form from the passport office. Once you have completed it, you will be able to submit it, along with the fee and your documents, to the officials.

Why Are Clearance Certificates Needed?

There are various situations in which a police check becomes inevitable. It is the policy of almost every multinational company to check the criminal history of people before hiring them. Personal checks are also conducted by schools and companies before hiring individuals.

A clearance letter issued by police authorities is also required when people apply for an immigrant visa. When applicants are called for their visa interview, they have to bring along the required documents, and a PCC is one of them. A full criminal background check performed by a law enforcement agency should give an all-clear to the applicant, otherwise, they won’t be able to get through the immigration process.

PCC for Green Card:

Whenever people send in their naturalization applications to USCIS, their ultimate goal is to become a permanent resident of the United States. But becoming a lawful permanent resident in the United States is not that simple. People have to start with getting an immigrant visa. But they cannot even apply for an immigrant visa on their own. The process only begins when a family member or a US-based company submits a petition to the USCIS on their behalf.

Once a person receives an appointment letter from the US Embassy, they must start preparing their documents. Your birth certificate will be the most important document during the immigration process. But if it is not in English then you should get it translated. You will also have to bring your valid passport to the Embassy or Consulate on the day of your interview.

Another important document that you will have to bring is a police clearance certificate for green card. If you have not been given an all-clear by the police department, you will find it difficult to get through the immigration process. Apply for the police check in advance so you don’t miss your interview date. If the PCC is not in English, then you will have to find a certified translator. You cannot show up for the naturalization interview with the required documents that are in a foreign language. You will need to get a certified copy of each of them.

If you don’t want your immigrant visa application letter to be rejected by the United States Consulate or Embassy, then you should follow all the vital requirements. You should not only bring all the additional documents with you but also get their certified translations if they are not in English.

Who can provide accurate certified translations?

A lot of people are unaware of the requirement that they will have to bring certified translations of their original documents. While some think that they will have to go to the notary public to get their documents notarized. Although USCIS does not require notarized translations anymore, they still want to see certified translations of your original documents. Otherwise, they won’t be able to understand all the foreign documents.

There are a lot of qualified professionals and reliable agencies that provide accurate translations to visa applicants. You can look up agencies on the internet and compare their prices and ratings to find the best one. You can also request them to provide you with urgent translations of your original documents if you have an approaching deadline. A good agency won’t charge you for the rush service. You will, however, have to pay the mailing charges if you decide to get the translations of your identity documents in the mail.

A reliable agency will be able to handle all kinds of documents including marriage certificates, power of attorneys, and prison records.

How to procure an Indian police clearance certificate?

If you have received the interview letter from the US consulate, then you should put all of your valid documents together. But since a PCC is one of the required documents, you will have to obtain it too. Here’s how you can get a PCC in India:

1. You can visit the District Police Office or the Passport Office to apply for the PCC.

2. You will have to buy the application form by paying a small amount of money.

3. After completing the form, you can submit it to the District Police Office, along with the processing fee and relevant documents. The papers you will have to submit to the District Police Office include your valid Indian Passport and proof of residence.

4. If you pay the fee by bank draft, then you will have to write your full name and date of birth on the back of the draft before submitting it to the appropriate police authorities.

5. The processing time for the PCC application is seven working days. So, you won’t have to wait long to receive your document.

Once you have received the certificate from the police station or the passport office, you can confidently go to the embassy for your interview. Getting visa approval will become easier if you fulfill all the vital requirements of USCIS.