If you have stayed and/or worked in either Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or wish to travel abroad for employment, immigration or further studies you are sometimes needed to provide Saudi Arabia Police Clearance Certificate, also known as Criminal Clearance Certificate. The following document confirms that you have committed no crime while being in the Kingdom.
Indeed, trying to accomplish this process from a different country, for instance India, might seem very complicated. Here you will find a detailed description of how one can acquire Saudi PCC along with the information on how engaging the services of a professional private authorized agency is beneficial.
What is the Saudi Police Clearance Certificate (PCC)?
A Saudi PCC is also known as the attested document issued by the Ministry of interior Saudi Arabia. It authenticates that an individual has no records of criminality during the period they lived in the country. It is usually sought for immigration, visa application, overseas job offers or masters and undergraduate admissions.
Who Needs a Saudi PCC?
- Those people who formerly lived in Saudi Arabia because of immigration or any sort of visa.
- Persons who were either employees or residents in Saudi Arabia for some time.
- Any person that requires clearance of their character to work, learn, or reside in another country.
Documents Needed for Saudi PCC Application
Make sure you have the necessary paperwork available before beginning the application process:
Copy of Passport: Most importantly, complete the pages that contain your personal information and any visa stamp that you have been through Saudi Arabia.
Copy of Iqama (Saudi residence permit): This affirms your legal status of being a resident in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the KSA.
A Certified Fingerprint Card: This is necessary to check your credibility and has to be endorsed by the police station of the country where you are living now (for instance India).
Embassy/consulate Request Letter: At times, you will be required to obtain a letter from the Saudi embassy or consulate for the reason behind your PCC application.
How to Obtain a Saudi PCC: A Layman’s Guide
Take Your Fingerprints and Obtain Your Certification
While applying for the Saudi PCC, one of the essential activities is taking your fingerprints. If you are applying from another country apart from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, you will be required to have your fingerprint done at a standard fingerprint center for PCC or your nation's closest police station (for example, India). Make certain that the fingerprint card gets stamped and certified at the local police jurisdiction. The fingerprint card must then be notarised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in India, or any other authority in your country.
Submit Your Application
You have two main options for submitting your application for a Saudi PCC:
In Saudi Arabia: In case of having a friend, relative or any legal representative who stays in Saudi Arabia, the latter can go to the police department or the Ministry of Interior in order to put your application forward. This is fast as compared to other methods and used most frequently.
From Abroad (e.g., India): You can also submit your documents to the Saudi Embassy or consulate in the current country of residents. Check that all documents including your certified fingerprint card, copies of your passport and photographs are properly filled.
Pay the Fees
Charges usually accompany the processing of the PCC. The amount varies depending on whether they apply the category they apply in and where they submit the application. There are additional fees for document authentication if you apply through an embassy or consulate and for postal services.
Wait for Processing
A Saudi PCC may take between 2 to 8 weeks to process, depending on the case, verification of documents, among other factors, depending on whether it is submitted online, physically or through a representative. It may take longer if there is need for further and other kinds of verification.
Receive the PCC
On evaluation of your application you are granted the Saudi Police Clearance Certificate. If you applied online, you’ll get the certificate through email, mail delivery, or any other email communication online.
Why to Get in Touch with a Saudi PCC Private Authorized Agency?
It can also be very tedious to acquire the police clearance certificate Saudi Arabia if you are not a resident of Saudi Arabia. If the process seems to be too complex for you, a private authorized agency can do it all for you. Here’s how:
Legal Guidance of Preparing Documents: Agencies make sure all the paperwork that you need is processed in the right manner and accredited. This involves ensuring you acquire the proper documents, ensuring that those who need fingerprinting get it done, and generally ensuring proper completion of all forms.
How to Make Fingerprinting Trouble-Free: Fingerprinting is an important part of the PCC application. Centers respond to agencies, and clients follow a correct process of fingerprinting to avoid refusal or delays.
Error-free Process: Applications’ delay is often caused by various issues, one of which is errors or inadequacy of documented papers. An experienced agency can take time to review your entire application to avoid some silly mistakes which may give one a hard time in the processing of the application.
Saves time and Accurate Data Processing: Ask any agency and they will be able to quickly go around the embassy way of doing things and do away with the endless cycles of writing back and forth which can take weeks if not months. They push your application through to ensure that its disposal does not take long & unnecessary time.
Regular Updates and Support: It can sometimes, therefore, take a while for an applicant to obtain a Saudi PCC and many of the applicants get worried on the progress of their application. In setting a professional agency you will be in a position to be receiving updates as well as status reports. As such, if there are any problems the agency can attend to them promptly.
Conclusion
It takes some time when applying for the Saudi Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) especially if the applicant is not in Saudi Arabia anymore. Starting from fingerprinting certifications of documents and embassy procedures the measures might seem endless. But if you don’t mess up the process and fill out the necessary paperwork correctly, you will manage to get your PCC with relative ease.