El Salvador

Procedures

If you are unable to provide a police certificate you must provide a separate statutory declaration in both English and your own language, detailing your attempts to obtain a police certificate and stating whether you and any accompanying family members have been found guilty or convicted of, or charged with offences against the law in that country, or have not been charged with any offences against the law of that country. This statutory declaration should also be corroborated by other information attesting to your character.

If police certificates become a year old from date of issue before a decision is made on an application, visa and immigration officers may request further police certificates. Further police certificates may also be requested within the 12 month period if there is good reason to do so.

The procedures for obtaining a police certificate for some countries state that the police authorities will only send the certificate direct to Immigration New Zealand. It is recommended that in such cases applicants should request their police certificate three months prior to lodging their application for a residence visa or permit. It is also recommended that such applicants provide Immigration New Zealand with a copy of the receipt for the requested police certificate (if this is available) to assist Immigration New Zealand in tracking their certificate.

Residence  

• All applicants aged 17 years or over are required to provide police certificates at the time a residence application is lodged unless there is a different instruction in the country-specific information (see below).
• If you have lived for periods of twelve months or more in any other countries during the last ten years, you must obtain additional police certificates from these countries, and also your country(ies) of citizenship unless you can provide satisfactory evidence that you have never lived there.
• Police certificates must be less than six months old at the time you lodge your residence application.

Temporary Entry Visa or Permit

• All applicants aged 17 years or over who are working, visiting or studying in New Zealand for twenty four months or longer are required to provide a police certificate.
• The police certificate is to be provided at the time you lodge your application unless there is a different instruction in the country-specific information (see below).
• Applicants must supply a police certificate from any country in which they have lived for 5 years or more since attaining the age of 17 years as well as their country(ies) of citizenship, unless they can provide satisfactory evidence that they have never lived there.

Specific procedure for El Salvador

Residents – apply to: 

Director General of National Police
Cuartel Central
San Salvador

 

and provide: 

1. a set of fingerprints taken at the local police station
2. three identical passport-size photographs (full-face) and one side profile.

A fee is payable.

Non-residents – provide the following original documents to the nearest Salvadorian Embassy or Consulate:    

1. Salvadorian birth certificate, cedula and passport
2. fingerprints
3. photographs.

Non-residents should give power of Attorney to a Salvadorian resident who will complete processing in El Salvador.