What is a police certificate?

A police certificate is a document that contains information about any arrests of an individual, the reasons for and outcomes of those arrests, while that person was living in a particular area. Of course, the document is preferable to confirm the fact that the subject has no criminal records.

What cases is a police clearance certificate requested in?

The document may be requested in the following cases:

• applying for a family-based or marriage-based green card from abroad;
• employment in your country and abroad;
• departure for permanent or temporary residence in a foreign country, including in the process of obtaining a residence permit, citizenship;
• adoption, guardianship and trusteeship;
• disputes about the child’s residence with one of the parents;
• visa issues.

How can I get a police clearance certificate?

USA

In the USA a criminal record certificate can be issued in two ways – by the FBI or by the State Police. In practice, certificates issued by the FBI are accepted, since they reflect a clean criminal record throughout the United States, not in a particular state or county. A certificate must have an apostille on it. The contents of the certificate are entered from the register in the approved form with all the data. A necessary procedure to obtain a police clearance certificate in the United States is fingerprinting, so you can only request the certificate in person.

Russia

The Ministry of Internal Affairs issues a police clearance certificate in the Russian Federation. This document can be obtained by:

• citizens of the Russian Federation;
• foreign citizens;
• stateless persons;
• authorized representatives of the above categories (if the power of attorney is issued abroad, in most cases the apostille is necessary).

The term of obtaining the document is 30 calendar days. Documents required to receive the document:

• passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation (for Russian citizens);
• passport of a foreign citizen or other identity document (for foreign citizens);
• document issued by a foreign state and recognized in the Russian Federation as an identity document of a stateless person (for stateless persons);
• power of attorney for the right to obtain a certificate (for authorized representatives of the recipient of the document; the power of attorney, issued abroad must be apostilled);
• document confirming kinship or the fact of adoption/establishment of guardianship/trusteeship;
• notarized translations of documents if they are performed in a foreign language;
• application for a certificate.