A Guide to Apply For Police Clearance Certificate in India

Whether you are planning to go for employment or applying for residential status in a foreign land, long-term visa, or immigration, you need a police clearance certificate or PCC. It’s not required if you are going abroad on a tourist visa. It’s an official document issued by the Indian Police or authorized Indian Government authority to certify that you do not have any criminal record.

Years ago, applying for and getting a police clearance certificate in India was a cumbersome task. Everything was offline and the applicants have to run from one office to another to get the PCC. It used to take days and sometimes months to get the final approved copy. But today, you can apply for a police clearance certificate online.

Eligibility for a police clearance certificate 

  • Your age should be 18 years or more.
  • You should hold an Indian passport
  • You should have all the necessary documents

 

Ways to get a police clearance certificate 

For online application, you have to register on the official website of Passport Sava and fill in the details in the form. You can even download the form and fill it offline and submit it later.

After filling the form, you need to upload the supporting documents and make the payment online to book an appointment. At last, you will receive a receipt, having an Application reference number (ARN)/Appointment number. This reference number will be used for different purposes at different steps of the police clearance certificate application procedure.

In case you can apply online, you should visit the nearby police station for getting the certificate physically.

Documents required for a police clearance certificate 

  • A self-attested photocopy of the first two and last two pages of your passport
  • A permanent residence proof
  • An identity proof
  • A documentary proof clarifying your reason for traveling abroad
  • Passport size photographs

 

Processing time for a police clearance certificate 

With the introduction of an online portal, the processing time for police clearance certificate has reduced significantly. But there is a condition in it.

If there is no need for police verification after applying, you will get the certificate in a day i.e. on the same day of your passport office visit.

On the other hand, if police verification is required, it will take up to one month to get the certificate from the passport office. Local police will visit your residential address for verification and submit the report to the authority. If the report is found positive, you will receive the police clearance certificate.

Things to consider after applying for a police clearance certificate 

You should visit the Passport Seva Kendra office within 90 days to avoid resubmission of the application form.

You should visit the Passport office only after the application is processed. But in some exceptional cases, you may visit the office without an appointment.

Conclusion 

A police clearance certificate is an important document as it proves your innocence and makes your stay easy in a foreign land. So you cannot afford any mistake in it.

If you are not confident to apply for a police clearance certificate, you should hire professionals for the same. They will fill the form on your behalf and guide you through the entire application process.

A Guide to MEA Document Attestation

Whether you are traveling abroad for higher studies or job opportunities, document attestation is important. Whichever documents your university or employer demands, you should get them attested to affirm they are genuine. The documents will be recognized as valid in the foreign countries only if they are declared by a witness and demonstrated by his/her signature.

Attestation procedure is same for all the countries except the ones that are a member of the Hague Convention. If you are planning to travel to any such country, you should get your document attested by the Ministry of External Affairs or MEA.  

MEA Document attestation is a final step of legalization where both, the home country and destination country are the members of the Hague convention.

In this post, we will discuss the Ministry of External Affair and its attestation procedure.

About Ministry Of External Affairs

Located in New Delhi, India, the Ministry of External Affairs is the only apex body having the authority to attest the document issued from India. As per the requirement of the applicant, MEA attests the documents or issues Apostille Stamp.

With effect from March 1, 2012, the Ministry of External Affairs has outsourced its General Attestation and MEA Apostille Document Services. After outsourcing, no document/certificate from individuals is accepted by the MEA counter.

The applicants have to submit the original documents directly to the outsourced agencies along with the photocopy of the documents and photocopy of their passport. So you should connect with an attestation service provider for completing the MEA document attestation process.

Procedure of MEA document Attestation 

The outsourced attestation agency will handle the attestation procedure and deliver the attested document to you. But still, you should know the steps to have complete clarification.

The 2-steps procedure of MEA document attestation is:

  1. All original documents and photocopies are authenticated by the designated authorities of the concerned State or Union territory from where the document is issued. The designated authorities for different document types are:
  • Education or Human Resource Department (HRD) is for educational documents.
  • State Home Department or General Administration Department (GAD) is for non-educational documents.
  • The respective Chamber of Commerce is for commercial documents
  • Based on the signature of the designated authorities of the State Government or Union Territory or Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of External Affairs legalizes or attests the documents. The department does not take responsibility for the contents of the documents.

This is how the Ministry of External Affairs works and attests the documents for the validation in the foreign countries.

The guide claims that the MEA document attestation process isn’t easy, especially because no individual is allowed to submit the documents directly at the MEA counter. So the best is to work with a certified attestation service provider.