Do I need a police clearance for my visa?
Not every visa requires one. As a rule, temporary visas usually do not; permanent, settlement, work-with-vulnerable-people and long-stay visas usually do. Here is how to tell.
The general principle
Immigration authorities ask for a police certificate when they are making a longer-term commitment to you — residency, settlement, permanent skilled migration — or when the role involves trust, such as healthcare, education or childcare. They usually want one from every country you lived in for six or twelve months as an adult, which for South Africans means a SAPS clearance.
Usually required
- Permanent residence and citizenship (US green card, Canada PR, Australia PR)
- Settlement and partner visas
- Skilled Worker visas in health, education and social care
- Long-stay work and residence permits (Germany, EU Blue Card, Chancenkarte)
- Most Gulf-state employment and residency visas
Usually not required
- Tourist and visitor visas
- Most short-term student visas
- Business visitor and short work-trip visas
The checklist is the authority. Every visa publishes a document checklist that states plainly whether a police certificate is required. That checklist — not general advice, including this page — is what governs your application. If it lists one, you need it; if it does not, you almost certainly do not.
Country-specific guidance
Requirements differ enough by destination that we have written them out corridor by corridor: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, UAE, Germany.
If you do need one
Start about three to four months before your deadline, because the certificate usually has to be under six months old when you submit. How the application works.