Police Clearance for Singapore, Taiwan, China & South Korea and different name

[RFN 3]

Hello guys, I'm new to this site and need some advice. My background story: I'm an Indonesian and I've lived in Singapore between age 10 to 17. I then continued my study in the States where I met my fiancé. We dated for 7.5 years, 4 years while I was in the States and then a 3.5 year of long-distance relationship while I was living in China, Taiwan and South Korea for a year each. We took a 2-year break when I went back to Indonesia in early 2015 before we decided we wanted to be together. We've met 3 times in the last 1.5 year and we just got engaged.

 

1) I've been trying to find out on all the documents needed, and it says that I'll be needing police certificates from all the countries I've lived in for 12 months or more from 16 years old. So basically, I'll be needing at least 5 police certificates from 5 countries: Indonesia, Singapore, China, Taiwan and South Korea. I don't think I'll have any problem getting from Indonesia and Singapore, but my worry lies on getting from China, Taiwan and South Korea. I've read here on this forum that says I won't be able to obtain one if I'm not currently living in South Korea, getting one from China is really complicated and I’m not too sure about Taiwan. Do you think if I can provide a request letter from the Indonesian US Embassy it'll make things easier to obtain? If anyone had any experiences with getting police certificate from these countries please give some advice. And also, would I need one from the US too, because I've lived there before?

 

2) Another thing is my birth certificate and passport has my middle and last name typed together, but all of my US student identifications and SSN has my middle and last name separated. For example, my dad's family name is Smith. My brother's name is John Aiden Smith, but my name is Jane Doesmith. Basically I did not have a middle name when I was born. When my brother and I both applied for I-20, we wanted to avoid confusion and have the same last name. And so, we applied mine as Jane Doe Smith. I’ve also recently found out that my Indonesian ID and driver’s license have them separated too. Now I'm worried that this will be an issue. What do you guys think?

 

Any suggestion is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JFH 12,191]

*~*~*one duplicate thread removed and this thread moved from "IMBRA special topics" to "K-1 fiancé visa process and procedures" as not an IMBRA-related question*~*~*

[tpmd 155]

5 hours ago, RFN said:

Hello guys, I'm new to this site and need some advice. My background story: I'm an Indonesian and I've lived in Singapore between age 10 to 17. I then continued my study in the States where I met my fiancé. We dated for 7.5 years, 4 years while I was in the States and then a 3.5 year of long-distance relationship while I was living in China, Taiwan and South Korea for a year each. We took a 2-year break when I went back to Indonesia in early 2015 before we decided we wanted to be together. We've met 3 times in the last 1.5 year and we just got engaged.

 

1) I've been trying to find out on all the documents needed, and it says that I'll be needing police certificates from all the countries I've lived in for 12 months or more from 16 years old. So basically, I'll be needing at least 5 police certificates from 5 countries: Indonesia, Singapore, China, Taiwan and South Korea. I don't think I'll have any problem getting from Indonesia and Singapore, but my worry lies on getting from China, Taiwan and South Korea. I've read here on this forum that says I won't be able to obtain one if I'm not currently living in South Korea, getting one from China is really complicated and I’m not too sure about Taiwan. Do you think if I can provide a request letter from the Indonesian US Embassy it'll make things easier to obtain? If anyone had any experiences with getting police certificate from these countries please give some advice. And also, would I need one from the US too, because I've lived there before?

 

2) Another thing is my birth certificate and passport has my middle and last name typed together, but all of my US student identifications and SSN has my middle and last name separated. For example, my dad's family name is Smith. My brother's name is John Aiden Smith, but my name is Jane Doesmith. Basically I did not have a middle name when I was born. When my brother and I both applied for I-20, we wanted to avoid confusion and have the same last name. And so, we applied mine as Jane Doe Smith. I’ve also recently found out that my Indonesian ID and driver’s license have them separated too. Now I'm worried that this will be an issue. What do you guys think?

 

Any suggestion is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't tell you about other countries, but getting your police clrarance for South Korea is very easy.

 

I obtained mine from the South Korean consulate in Vietnam, literally just walked in (took my passport and 2 passport photos with me), spoke to the front desk and filled out the form they gave me. The guy behind the counter checked it over and gave me a receipt with a date to go back and pick it up.

 

Do you still have your ARC card/number? I don't have mine, it wasn't really an issue, but I'm sure it's easier if you do. You also need your address history for the country your applying to. 

 

It probably varies from consulate to consulate, but in my experience it was pretty easy. 

[tpmd 155]

This link should help, just select the country > scroll down to police records > procedure for obtaining

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country.html

[RFN 3]

11 hours ago, tpmd said:

I can't tell you about other countries, but getting your police clrarance for South Korea is very easy.

 

I obtained mine from the South Korean consulate in Vietnam, literally just walked in (took my passport and 2 passport photos with me), spoke to the front desk and filled out the form they gave me. The guy behind the counter checked it over and gave me a receipt with a date to go back and pick it up.

 

Do you still have your ARC card/number? I don't have mine, it wasn't really an issue, but I'm sure it's easier if you do. You also need your address history for the country your applying to. 

 

It probably varies from consulate to consulate, but in my experience it was pretty easy. 

Omg, thanks tmpd! I'm so relieved now.

[usmsbow 802]

17 hours ago, RFN said:

Hello guys, I'm new to this site and need some advice. My background story: I'm an Indonesian and I've lived in Singapore between age 10 to 17. I then continued my study in the States where I met my fiancé. We dated for 7.5 years, 4 years while I was in the States and then a 3.5 year of long-distance relationship while I was living in China, Taiwan and South Korea for a year each. We took a 2-year break when I went back to Indonesia in early 2015 before we decided we wanted to be together. We've met 3 times in the last 1.5 year and we just got engaged.

 

1) I've been trying to find out on all the documents needed, and it says that I'll be needing police certificates from all the countries I've lived in for 12 months or more from 16 years old. So basically, I'll be needing at least 5 police certificates from 5 countries: Indonesia, Singapore, China, Taiwan and South Korea. I don't think I'll have any problem getting from Indonesia and Singapore, but my worry lies on getting from China, Taiwan and South Korea. I've read here on this forum that says I won't be able to obtain one if I'm not currently living in South Korea, getting one from China is really complicated and I’m not too sure about Taiwan. Do you think if I can provide a request letter from the Indonesian US Embassy it'll make things easier to obtain? If anyone had any experiences with getting police certificate from these countries please give some advice. And also, would I need one from the US too, because I've lived there before?

 

2) Another thing is my birth certificate and passport has my middle and last name typed together, but all of my US student identifications and SSN has my middle and last name separated. For example, my dad's family name is Smith. My brother's name is John Aiden Smith, but my name is Jane Doesmith. Basically I did not have a middle name when I was born. When my brother and I both applied for I-20, we wanted to avoid confusion and have the same last name. And so, we applied mine as Jane Doe Smith. I’ve also recently found out that my Indonesian ID and driver’s license have them separated too. Now I'm worried that this will be an issue. What do you guys think?

 

Any suggestion is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I realize it is the probably the easiest for you to get, you do not need a police certificate for Indonesia. It seems to be the one country in the world that the State Department does not require that certificate. A rare "benefit" from Indonesian corruption I suppose. 

 

Edited to add: as for your name, I think you should be OK. It seems to be a common issue for Indonesians, and I can't think of one instance on VJ where it ended up being a problem (beyond the stress & worry you're currently experiencing). 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2018 by usmsbow

[RFN 3]

9 hours ago, usmsbow said:

 

While I realize it is the probably the easiest for you to get, you do not need a police certificate for Indonesia. It seems to be the one country in the world that the State Department does not require that certificate. A rare "benefit" from Indonesian corruption I suppose. 

 

Edited to add: as for your name, I think you should be OK. It seems to be a common issue for Indonesians, and I can't think of one instance on VJ where it ended up being a problem (beyond the stress & worry you're currently experiencing). 

 

 

 

 

I actually read under the consulate review that they don't require police cert from Indonesia, but I wasn't sure about it. At least now there's one less thing to worry about. Thanks for the info usmsbow. 

[J/G 85]

On 1/21/2018 at 5:32 AM, RFN said:

I actually read under the consulate review that they don't require police cert from Indonesia, but I wasn't sure about it. At least now there's one less thing to worry about. Thanks for the info usmsbow. 

Yes, I second USMSBOW, you are NOT required to submit Indonesian's police clearance cert. And don't bother getting one. The embassy officials won't ask. Focus on something more beneficial for your case (i.e. other countries' police clearance certs). 

 

For what it's worth, re: obtaining clearance while you're not in the country, here's my experience. When I tried to obtain my Australian police clearance cert. I was living in Bali, Indonesia. I visited my state's police department (Victoria PD) website and it's all just a matter of filling out forms online and a few clicks here and there, payment by credit card and that's it. The only thing is I used a friend's mailing address in Australia for the PD to mail the clearance letter rather than having the PD mail it internationally using a standard AustPost. My friend then mailed it to me using DHL. The whole process including DHL shipping was done in 10 days. 

 

Good luck. 

J/G

 

PS. As of now your MOST reliable source of information re: what documents to submit would be the US Govt's issued I-129F form (and its instruction). READ and RE-read the form / instruction often the case the answer is right under your nose. And WHEN you have ANY kind of doubts / questions, send an email to the US Embassy in Jakarta. From my experience, they were VERY quick to respond (within the hour) and were VERY clear in responding your queries, as long as your question is also VERY clear.  

Edited January 22, 2018 by J/G

[RFN 3]

55 minutes ago, J/G said:

Yes, I second USMSBOW, you are NOT required to submit Indonesian's police clearance cert. And don't bother getting one. The embassy officials won't ask. Focus on something more beneficial for your case (i.e. other countries' police clearance certs). 

 

For what it's worth, re: obtaining clearance while you're not in the country, here's my experience. When I tried to obtain my Australian police clearance cert. I was living in Bali, Indonesia. I visited my state's police department (Victoria PD) website and it's all just a matter of filling out forms online and a few clicks here and there, payment by credit card and that's it. The only thing is I used a friend's mailing address in Australia for the PD to mail the clearance letter rather than having the PD mail it internationally using a standard AustPost. My friend then mailed it to me using DHL. The whole process including DHL shipping was done in 10 days. 

 

Good luck. 

J/G

 

PS. As of now your MOST reliable source of information re: what documents to submit would be the US Govt's issued I-129F form (and its instruction). READ and RE-read the form / instruction often the case the answer is right under your nose. And WHEN you have ANY kind of doubts / questions, send an email to the US Embassy in Jakarta. From my experience, they were VERY quick to respond (within the hour) and were VERY clear in responding your queries, as long as your question is also VERY clear.  

Thanks J/G! I'm going to call all the embassies and find out what I should do for each country. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.

[meiliani 10]

Hi, 

 

My husband used to life in south Korea for 6 years. Getting a police report from South Korea is easy. he went to the SK embassy in Jakarta, filled out the necessary form. If I'm not mistaken only took about 2 weeks or maybe less. 

 

Hope this is help...

 

Thanks

[RFN 3]

On 2/2/2018 at 3:57 AM, meiliani said:

Hi, 

 

My husband used to life in south Korea for 6 years. Getting a police report from South Korea is easy. he went to the SK embassy in Jakarta, filled out the necessary form. If I'm not mistaken only took about 2 weeks or maybe less. 

 

Hope this is help...

 

Thanks

Hi Meiliani, 

 

I've contacted them and they said they'll need a copy of the arc. I pretty much ransacked my whole place looking for it and then remembered that the immigration took it back when I left the country and never made any copy. I haven't asked them about it yet, but did your husband had his copy?

 

Thanks

[usmsbow 802]

On 2/3/2018 at 4:08 AM, RFN said:

Hi Meiliani, 

 

I've contacted them and they said they'll need a copy of the arc. I pretty much ransacked my whole place looking for it and then remembered that the immigration took it back when I left the country and never made any copy. I haven't asked them about it yet, but did your husband had his copy?

 

Thanks

 

Yuck, that sucks. I'm surprised they said they need that since immigration takes everyone's ARC when moving from South Korea. Perhaps they thought you were still a resident in South Korea? Maybe go to the embassy in person (if you are in or near Jakarta) and try. You probably will have better luck that way. 

[RFN 3]

15 hours ago, usmsbow said:

 

Yuck, that sucks. I'm surprised they said they need that since immigration takes everyone's ARC when moving from South Korea. Perhaps they thought you were still a resident in South Korea? Maybe go to the embassy in person (if you are in or near Jakarta) and try. You probably will have better luck that way. 

I know right.. When I emailed them I mentioned that I lived there between 2013-2014. I might just have to visit all the embassies because only South Korean embassy replied to me so far. But I wonder if I should do it now, because we are just only going to send the k-1 application this week. 

[tpmd 155]

20 hours ago, RFN said:

I know right.. When I emailed them I mentioned that I lived there between 2013-2014. I might just have to visit all the embassies because only South Korean embassy replied to me so far. But I wonder if I should do it now, because we are just only going to send the k-1 application this week. 

I did it without my arc and it came back no problem

[RFN 3]

3 hours ago, tpmd said:

I did it without my arc and it came back no problem

i hope there wont be any problem too..finger crossed