New style ACPO police certificates

[JeremyR 8]

This is nothing more than satisfying my curiosity since I'm way past K-1 stage now (thank goodness).

I was reading here about ACPOs pilot programme for police certificates for visa purposes and I was wondering what the benefit is? Does it actually give more information than the old style 'subject access requests'? Apart from the photo that is? Or are they being introduced because the embassies weren't happy with the documents we were taking in the past? Does it mean that the US embassy in London isn't taking the old type any more?

What's the justification for a three-fold price hike, or have they just realised that they can make a fair amount of money very quickly by charging would-be expats £35 instead of the £10 that I paid not so long ago?

[Talyss 0]

This is nothing more than satisfying my curiosity since I'm way past K-1 stage now (thank goodness).

I was reading here about ACPOs pilot programme for police certificates for visa purposes and I was wondering what the benefit is? Does it actually give more information than the old style 'subject access requests'? Apart from the photo that is? Or are they being introduced because the embassies weren't happy with the documents we were taking in the past? Does it mean that the US embassy in London isn't taking the old type any more?

What's the justification for a three-fold price hike, or have they just realised that they can make a fair amount of money very quickly by charging would-be expats £35 instead of the £10 that I paid not so long ago?

This is all speculation based on the fact that I have never applied for police clearance under the old system for visa purposes, just for job purposes (also been a manager who lost great potential employees because police clearance took so long they took internal promotions instead )

Umm maybe allows them to set up a seperate department for visa certificates - which gives guaranteed turn around times and doesn't get mixed up with all the other requests for police certificates thereby making things a bit faster for everyone. I paid for the standard 10 day service and it was back in that time.

[rocks 494]

This is nothing more than satisfying my curiosity since I'm way past K-1 stage now (thank goodness).

I was reading here about ACPOs pilot programme for police certificates for visa purposes and I was wondering what the benefit is? Does it actually give more information than the old style 'subject access requests'? Apart from the photo that is? Or are they being introduced because the embassies weren't happy with the documents we were taking in the past? Does it mean that the US embassy in London isn't taking the old type any more?

What's the justification for a three-fold price hike, or have they just realised that they can make a fair amount of money very quickly by charging would-be expats £35 instead of the £10 that I paid not so long ago?

This is all speculation based on the fact that I have never applied for police clearance under the old system for visa purposes, just for job purposes (also been a manager who lost great potential employees because police clearance took so long they took internal promotions instead )

Umm maybe allows them to set up a seperate department for visa certificates - which gives guaranteed turn around times and doesn't get mixed up with all the other requests for police certificates thereby making things a bit faster for everyone. I paid for the standard 10 day service and it was back in that time.

are the police certificates for jobs nationwide? people i know who have had them and they had to re-apply when they have moved out of the area they were working in.

[Lansbury 19]

ACPO is not a government organization it is a trade association. Sort of a union for senior officers.

As such it is a private organization which is selling you a service at what ever price they choose to set.

The advantages to the various police services is that they no longer have to waste staff time doing non police work to provide a service which in no way contributes to their function.

So the tax payers save money and ACPO makes money.

[Talyss 0]

This is nothing more than satisfying my curiosity since I'm way past K-1 stage now (thank goodness).

I was reading here about ACPOs pilot programme for police certificates for visa purposes and I was wondering what the benefit is? Does it actually give more information than the old style 'subject access requests'? Apart from the photo that is? Or are they being introduced because the embassies weren't happy with the documents we were taking in the past? Does it mean that the US embassy in London isn't taking the old type any more?

What's the justification for a three-fold price hike, or have they just realised that they can make a fair amount of money very quickly by charging would-be expats £35 instead of the £10 that I paid not so long ago?

This is all speculation based on the fact that I have never applied for police clearance under the old system for visa purposes, just for job purposes (also been a manager who lost great potential employees because police clearance took so long they took internal promotions instead )

Umm maybe allows them to set up a seperate department for visa certificates - which gives guaranteed turn around times and doesn't get mixed up with all the other requests for police certificates thereby making things a bit faster for everyone. I paid for the standard 10 day service and it was back in that time.

are the police certificates for jobs nationwide? people i know who have had them and they had to re-apply when they have moved out of the area they were working in.

I don't think they are even area wide. When it comes to the NHS - they were needed even for very localized moves

I actually felt very relieved I wasn't joining that queue with this process even if it did cost more

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I thought the new ones were supposed to cover the whole of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland...not sure if Scotland is included. I think maybe those come from somewhere else?? And the old way you would have to get one from every local police station where you lived since age 16. Is that right? And the new ones are supposed to be much faster. They are fast, even without the expedite fee.

And you are correct. The old ones are no longer accepted by the embassy.

Edited February 2, 2009 by Nich-Nick

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

The new ones do cover Scotland, and under the old system you only had to obtain one from the constabulary where you were currently living. The only exception to this was if you had ever lived in London -- even if you no longer lived there you still had to obtain your (one) certificate from the Met.

[JeremyR 8]

And you are correct. The old ones are no longer accepted by the embassy.

That's pretty much what I figured, given the choice of a document without a photo and a document with one, the embassy are always going to chose the one with the photo. I'd guess the format of this new type of certificate was probably drawn up in cahoots with the embassies in question.

And the old way you would have to get one from every local police station where you lived since age 16. Is that right?

No, you only had to submit one form to your local constabulary. They forwarded it on your behalf to New Scotland Yard, who produce all the old style 'blue bars' certificates and post them back out to the original requester.

So the tax payers save money and ACPO makes money.

The old system shouldn't have been costing the taxpayer a penny - the Data Protection Act has always allowed organisations to recover the cost of data retrieval and associated costs from the requester (the standard ten pound fee) rather than their own funds or the taxpayer.

I suppose what I was pondering about was whether or not the 'extra' fee above the £10 that the DPA allows for record disclosure was buying anything in particular, beyond a slightly accelerated process (it used to take a month). If the embassies aren't taking old style subject access requests any more then I guess it's a moot point but if they were still accepting them and there was no material difference between the two then the organised K-1 applicant could have saved themselves a few quid...