Germany: Police certificates too old?

[mirrortraveler 1]

Hello there everyone,

So I figured it would be a good idea to get my police certificates early and did not take into consideration how long exactly the approval of our K-1 visa would take.

Besides the US, I've lived in Belgium, the UK, and my home country of Germany. My UK police certificate should still be valid, but I received my German and Belgian police certificate in April, so it's just been a bit over 6 months. Does this mean that I will have to get new ones? If yes, does anyone know how long it takes to get a German police certificate in Germany and if it's possible to expedite it?

Thank you so much in advance!

[chad+stef 0]

In needs about 7-14 days depend where you live..i got mine in 4 days

[Nadeshda 6]

hey not sure how long the german police certificate is valid, I've read somewhere that it is good for 6 months but also read somewhere else that say its valid for a year. So just to be on the safe side get a new one, you'll get it in 5 to 7 days.

Good luck

[StrawberryKiss 170]

Mine also took like 3 business days.

The information you can find about police certificates is indeed confusing. In my interview letter it says you're fine if your police certificate is not older than 1 year, however, if you check out the checklists on their website, it says "A certificate issued by the police authorities where you now reside must be of recent date, preferably within the last six months, when presented to the consular officer." So I just decided to get a new one.

Reference: http://germany.usembassy.gov/uploads/f6/77/f677362c323ce60f859ce9b593aef879/iv_fiance_checklist.pdf

[HK12 273]

Mine took about 3 days to get sent to me. As for validity, I am pretty sure they told me six months back in 2012, but the current checklist says 12 months. If not sure, you can always e-mail the consulate.

PS: StrawberryKiss, this is an old checklist from 2010. They seem to change it around every couple of months This is the most recent checklist that I have found: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/frankfurt/9318/consular_pdf/Instructions%20for%20IV%20and%20K%20Visa%20Applicants.pdf

Edited November 2, 2014 by HK12

[StrawberryKiss 170]

Mine took about 3 days to get sent to me. As for validity, I am pretty sure they told me six months back in 2012, but the current checklist says 12 months. If not sure, you can always e-mail the consulate.

PS: StrawberryKiss, this is an old checklist from 2010. They seem to change it around every couple of months This is the most recent checklist that I have found: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/frankfurt/9318/consular_pdf/Instructions%20for%20IV%20and%20K%20Visa%20Applicants.pdf

Oh ok. Thanks! I had looked around, but couldn't find a more recent checklist for OP.