Visa Interview Australia Police Checks

[Ausmerican 0]

Hello All,

After 13 months I finally have an interview date at the Sydney embassy. The issue i am having is they are requesting two kinds of Police checks and it doesn't make any sense to me.

AUSTRALIA POLICE CERTIFICATE

and

AUSTRALIA POLICE CERT NSW/QUEENSLAND

To my knowledge you can not get state based police checks, only national. I have completed my no fingerprint check and I have also applied for my finger print one. Perhaps this is what their on about?

[dwarrell 21]

This does seem odd, as you're correct that the only police check is a national one, however you do apply for it through your state police force, rather than through the AFP.

What I suspect this is about is that for applicants from NSW and Qld, the police certificate is supposed to get sent direct to the consulate - and this being the case, NVC would never see it, and so would need special instructions about it so that they don't checklist applicants for a missing police certificate. So my guess is that the "AUSTRALIA POLICE CERT NSW/QUEENSLAND" is a special record in their system that generates a sort-of-checklist reminding you to apply for the police certificate and get it sent to the consulate or take it with you to the interview.

I live in NSW, and even though I got my police certificate sent to me and then submitted it to NVC with the rest of my documents, they still sent me a pseudo-checklist after my case was completed, telling me to obtain the police certificate and take it with me to the interview.

I hope this makes some kind of sense!

[Ausmerican 0]

This does seem odd, as you're correct that the only police check is a national one, however you do apply for it through your state police force, rather than through the AFP.

What I suspect this is about is that for applicants from NSW and Qld, the police certificate is supposed to get sent direct to the consulate - and this being the case, NVC would never see it, and so would need special instructions about it so that they don't checklist applicants for a missing police certificate. So my guess is that the "AUSTRALIA POLICE CERT NSW/QUEENSLAND" is a special record in their system that generates a sort-of-checklist reminding you to apply for the police certificate and get it sent to the consulate or take it with you to the interview.

I live in NSW, and even though I got my police certificate sent to me and then submitted it to NVC with the rest of my documents, they still sent me a pseudo-checklist after my case was completed, telling me to obtain the police certificate and take it with me to the interview.

I hope this makes some kind of sense!

Makes perfect sense mate and its reassuring. I hope my prints police check comes through before the 17th or I may have issues. the NVC site says a non print is accepted so long as all known aliases are listed...I have no aliases so I think it will be ok either way.

Thanks again

[NikLR 13,227]

What makes sense is that depending on WHERE you are depends on which police check you need (even though they check a national registry base).

Check the reciprocity table on the NVC website to find out which one YOU need based on your location.

[Kay&Jeff 7]

This does seem odd, as you're correct that the only police check is a national one, however you do apply for it through your state police force, rather than through the AFP.

What I suspect this is about is that for applicants from NSW and Qld, the police certificate is supposed to get sent direct to the consulate - and this being the case, NVC would never see it, and so would need special instructions about it so that they don't checklist applicants for a missing police certificate. So my guess is that the "AUSTRALIA POLICE CERT NSW/QUEENSLAND" is a special record in their system that generates a sort-of-checklist reminding you to apply for the police certificate and get it sent to the consulate or take it with you to the interview.

I live in NSW, and even though I got my police certificate sent to me and then submitted it to NVC with the rest of my documents, they still sent me a pseudo-checklist after my case was completed, telling me to obtain the police certificate and take it with me to the interview.

I hope this makes some kind of sense!

Hey dwarrell, are you getting another police certificate for your interview even though you sent it to NVC?? i did the same thing Im based in Queensland thou. When i got my police check the cops said i should have it sent to me not the consulate so in know it actually arrived and I sent it to NVC with the IV package. I also got asked to bring one in my list of paperwork to bring but its less then a year old and my interbiew is in 2 weeks so theres no time to get another.

[dwarrell 21]

Hey dwarrell, are you getting another police certificate for your interview even though you sent it to NVC?? i did the same thing Im based in Queensland thou. When i got my police check the cops said i should have it sent to me not the consulate so in know it actually arrived and I sent it to NVC with the IV package. I also got asked to bring one in my list of paperwork to bring but its less then a year old and my interbiew is in 2 weeks so theres no time to get another.

I won't be getting another copy, as by the time I submitted my docs to NVC, they were no longer requesting originals, only photocopies - so I still have the original in my possession. I wouldn't worry about it too much, if you submitted the original to NVC, it should be with all your other documents in the packet they send back to the consulate.

[dwarrell 21]

Makes perfect sense mate and its reassuring. I hope my prints police check comes through before the 17th or I may have issues. the NVC site says a non print is accepted so long as all known aliases are listed...I have no aliases so I think it will be ok either way.

Thanks again

Where I have seen people run into difficulty previously is at the NVC stage, as the NVC deals with applications from the entire world, each country with their own quirks and exceptions. So there have been cases where the NVC haven't understood that NSW/Qld residents are told to send their certificates direct to the consulate while everyone else sends their certificate to NVC, or where they won't accept a name only check, even though all the guidance on the websites of the US consulates in Australia says it's OK.

Now that you're past the NVC stage I think you should be fine, as from here on you're dealing with people who are in Australia, who are only dealing with Australian applications, and hence are (or should be) familiar with the peculiarities of the Australian police certificates. If for whatever reason you don't receive the fingerprints check by the time of your interview, I wouldn't mention it unless they specifically ask about it - in theory they should accept the name check. However, if you do get the fingerprint check before your interview, by all means take it along - there's no such thing as being overprepared for this interview!!

The crazy thing about the whole NSW/Qld situation is that on the consulate websites it's presented as an unavoidable part of the process - "if you live in NSW or Qld, your police certificate WILL be sent directly to the consulate and there's nothing you can do about it". However, when you come to apply, unless you take the action of putting in the consulate mailing address instead of your own when specifying where the certificate should be sent (a step that at no point does anyone tell you to do), the certificate will come to you as you would expect. The US consulate should really change its guidance on this, as: 1) there seems to be no good reason for it; 2) it's a process that doesn't get followed anyway unless the applicant takes a somewhat illogical step that they are never told to take; and 3) it just confuses the hell out of anyone applying from NSW or Qld, and is also confusing for the NVC

[Jojo2000 1]

I received a "checklist" from NVC requesting the police certificate. However, based on people's experiences, it seems it's just a "reminder" to bring the PC when you have the interview - the cover letter of the checklist says you have to send it to the NVC, but the attachment says this:

"Applicants who are required to provide an Australian police certificate should present it at the time of the interview or request that it be sent directly to the Consulate where they apply"

My case is in "case complete" but I going to call the NVC again just to be safe!