A Police Clearance Certificate is the official document issued by SAPS (the South African Police Services) which is a record of your convictions. It is often required by:
- the relevant immigration authorities for your citizenship application;
- employers in the public sector or industries where you’ll be working with children; or
- or other authorities for various reasons if you want to emigrate or work abroad.
Where to get a South African police clearance certificate
Directly from SAPS
You can get a South African police clearance certificate directly from SAPS by:
- visiting your local police station;
- having them take your fingerprints on the SAPS 91(a) form; and
- either having them send the form to the Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management (CR & CSM) department on your behalf or couriering it to them yourself.
Through consultants
However, this process can be very slow and people often find it faster to work through a consultant — although it can be more expensive. Consultants that we’ve come across include:
- Clearance Central — www.clearancecentral.co.za;
- Certificates RSA — www.certificatesrsa.co.za; and
- Apostil.co.za — www.apostil.co.za.
Where you work through a consultant, it is also possible to have your fingerprints taken by a South African attorney or other commissioner of oaths and you need not go to a police station. The SAPS CR & CSM department prefer you to go to your local police station and have your fingerprints taken there, but they will accept SAPS 91(a) forms stamped by an authorised commissioner of oaths.
You would then courier the form to consultant yourself, they submit it to the SAPS CR & CSM department and courier the resultant certificate back to you.
