6 December, 2019
Police Clearance Validity Clarification
The Department of Home Affairs recently published on their website this clarification on the validity of police clearance certificates.
Police clearance certificates – validity issues
There has been some confusion in relation to the police certificate validity requirements. These requirements are as follows:
- For visa assessment purposes, all police certificates issued are considered valid for 12 months from the date of issue, irrespective of the period specified by the issuing country.
- If the applicant returns to the country that issued the police certificate during the certificate’s validity, it will generally not affect the validity.
- Where an overseas police certificate has expired and the applicant has returned to the country that issued the certificate for more than two months in total (as a cumulative period) since the certificate expired, a new certificate will need to be provided.
- Where a certificate has expired and the applicant has NOT returned to the country that issued the certificate, a new certificate is not required.
