Turkish police certificate for non-nationals

[khelke 1]

I am starting this thread because I can't seem to find anywhere information relevant to my situation. In advance, please do not post a reply referring me to the DOS reciprocity web site, fingerscan.ca, or any other site that gives general information about how to obtain police certificates; I've exhausted these resources.

I met my wife in Istanbul, where we lived together for a year and a half. She is Italian, and is now in Italy while we await our NOA2 documents. Of course, she will need a Turkish police certificate. However, there doesn't seem to be a consensus regarding what kind of police certificate is appropriate for our application. In regards to those filing for a Turkish spouse, people will say that the police certificate must say "archive" on it. Web sites -- including official ones providing information about how to get a police certificate for US, Canadian, New Zealand, and Australian visas -- instruct you to write to the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Judicial Records and Statistics in Ankara. Still other web sites make a distinction between a police certificate from the Emniyet and one from the Ministry of Justice records.

Now because my wife didn't want to have to go back to Turkey, she had an official proxy made up in Italy, and had a contact in Turkey go to Ankara to the Ministry of Justice to get the document. What she received was a notarized document signed by a judge with her name, birthdate, place of birth, and statement that claims, "We certify that the named person Anna xxx has no criminal records." The document is in Turkish, French, English, and German. It does not say "arsiv kayitli adli sicil kaydi" as the DOS reciprocity website claims it must.

My question is this: has anyone had experience obtaining a police certificate for a non-national in Turkey, and if so, what did the document look like? I understand the DOS wants an archived record, but I feel that a notarized record from the ministry of justice signed by a judge is more than enough to certify lack of criminal record. But, I'd hate to be wrong and have this be a setback to our application.

Thanks so much.

[khelke 1]

I am starting this thread because I can't seem to find anywhere information relevant to my situation. In advance, please do not post a reply referring me to the DOS reciprocity web site, fingerscan.ca, or any other site that gives general information about how to obtain police certificates; I've exhausted these resources.

I met my wife in Istanbul, where we lived together for a year and a half. She is Italian, and is now in Italy while we await our NOA2 documents. Of course, she will need a Turkish police certificate. However, there doesn't seem to be a consensus regarding what kind of police certificate is appropriate for our application. In regards to those filing for a Turkish spouse, people will say that the police certificate must say "archive" on it. Web sites -- including official ones providing information about how to get a police certificate for US, Canadian, New Zealand, and Australian visas -- instruct you to write to the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Judicial Records and Statistics in Ankara. Still other web sites make a distinction between a police certificate from the Emniyet and one from the Ministry of Justice records.

Now because my wife didn't want to have to go back to Turkey, she had an official proxy made up in Italy, and had a contact in Turkey go to Ankara to the Ministry of Justice to get the document. What she received was a notarized document signed by a judge with her name, birthdate, place of birth, and statement that claims, "We certify that the named person Anna xxx has no criminal records." The document is in Turkish, French, English, and German. It does not say "arsiv kayitli adli sicil kaydi" as the DOS reciprocity website claims it must.

My question is this: has anyone had experience obtaining a police certificate for a non-national in Turkey, and if so, what did the document look like? I understand the DOS wants an archived record, but I feel that a notarized record from the ministry of justice signed by a judge is more than enough to certify lack of criminal record. But, I'd hate to be wrong and have this be a setback to our application.

Thanks so much.

I'm going to answer my own thread now that I've found the answer by calling the DOS Visa Inquiry line. The gentleman who helped me was very friendly and was able to answer my question with minimal holding time.

It appears that if you request the police certificate from the police in Turkey, the certificate must say archive on it. However, if you request it from the Ministry of Justice in Ankara, that document (the one which my wife received) is acceptable, as the MoJ's records ARE the archived records. So my suggestion would be not to fool with the police (who, in my research, seem to get the record wrong when requested) and get the criminal record directly from the Ministry of Justice. This can be done from abroad by writing the Ministry of Justice in Ankara (instructions here), obtaining a notarized proxy and having a contact in Turkey go to the MoJ to obtain the document for you (what my wife did), or by contacting the Turkish embassy in your contry and having them request the document. When I contacted both Turkish embassys in New York and Milan, they informed me that it would take 6 months to receive the police certificate from the MoJ. However, because my wife also requested the document from the embassy in Milan and was told to expect it to take the same time, it actually took a little more than a month---so now she has two identical police certificates! Better for the interview, I suppose though.

Anyway, I hope that this will be helpful for people who may have the same dilemma of conflicting information in the future.

[jonredbird 0]

Hello Khelke --

 

I'm hoping this pops into your email and you can help me.

 

My fiance spent time in Turkey on a work visa -- so now we are trying to deal with the police cert (while she lives in another country).

 

Did I understand you correctly that: To do this by mail would take six months, and the reason it took you one month is because someone picked it up in person?

 

MUST this be done in Ankara?  Or in any police station?

 

If we tried to do this in-person, must it be ordered ahead of time and then we can receive the results -- or can we walk in, request, receive, and leave?

 

Thank you. 

[Naes 12,205]

On 9/25/2017 at 3:22 AM, jonredbird said:

Hello Khelke --

 

I'm hoping this pops into your email and you can help me.

 

My fiance spent time in Turkey on a work visa -- so now we are trying to deal with the police cert (while she lives in another country).

 

Did I understand you correctly that: To do this by mail would take six months, and the reason it took you one month is because someone picked it up in person?

 

MUST this be done in Ankara?  Or in any police station?

 

If we tried to do this in-person, must it be ordered ahead of time and then we can receive the results -- or can we walk in, request, receive, and leave?

 

Thank you. 

I am Turkish so it may not apply but let me tell whatever I found out for myself. 

 Now obviously they have a better system and I've been told I can get it in 10-14 days from the embassy. (I leave in another country for 10 years)

 it may take less time than 6 months (which I believe it will) and can be done from the embassy. Try calling the closest Turkish embassy to you and ask them. 

They were really helpful with this as they used to doing this for k1 visas. 

 

Oh and even if you go in person, it takes some time for you to get it, I think they send it back to your address or you will need to go back and get it again.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Naes