What is it about police clearance certificates that makes most of us feel overwhelmed at the thought of applying for one? Is it the thought of too many forms to fill out? Long queues that stretch out forever?
Or is it simply a combination of it all, that makes applying for a police clearance certificate seem even more daunting than trying to get a birth certificate from Home Affairs?
At some time or the other, we’ve all had not so happy experiences when applying for official documents, and it would seem that a police clearance certificate is the most official of all official documents to apply for.
In truth, it can be a smooth ride, with few ruts in the road or potholes to hold you up, provided you do it the right way, which is through a third party service provider such as Doc Assist.
Police Clearance Certificates
Police Clearance Certificates (PCC) are serious documents, and are certainly not to taken lightly.
If you want to travel overseas for any reason, this is the most important document you’ll need to apply for a visa, and, in many instances today, it is also vital when applying for employment locally.
A police clearance certificate is proof of whether or not you have a past criminal record. If you haven’t committed a crime, and don’t have a criminal record, you’ll be issued with a clean PCC.
However, if you do have a past criminal record, a police clearance certificate will still be issued, which is generally a one-page document, but your criminal record will be listed on the second page of the PCC.
The details of the crimes won’t be included, only that you have a criminal record will be noted.
Generally speaking, you won’t be able to leave South Africa to travel overseas if you do have a criminal record, however, you can apply to have your criminal record expunged, provided that you meet certain criteria.
Why you need police clearance certificates:
- Overseas travel
- Studying overseas
- Working overseas
- Immigrating overseas
- Local employment applications in certain sectors, i.e. working with children, elderly frail people, mentally and physically disabled people, home-based caregivers.
- Other sectors such as security, financial sectors, hospitals and clinics, schools and more also require a police clearance certificate when you apply for employment.
With fraud and white collar crime on the rise, in an economy that is going bust, as well as a huge rise in unemployment, many employers are now making it policy to request a police clearance certificate to job applicants, even though theirs won’t be a high risk position.
How to get a police clearance certificate?
If applying for a police clearance certificate seems like a mountain too high for you to climb, your best choice would be to contact Doc Assist to make use of their Police Clearance Services!
This team of professional document procurement professionals streamline the entire process for you, taking all the frustration out of applying for and receiving your police clearance certificate.
Contact Doc Assist today to find out more about how this team of experts has streamlined the entire process of helping clients obtain police clearance certificates in record time!