A5.10 Police certificates

1. All police certificates must be less than 6 months old at the time an application is lodged unless an appropriately delegated visa or immigration officer, having regard to any instructions on the matter, has waived that requirement, in which case police certificates more than six months old may be accepted and used for determination purposes.
2. If police certificates become a year old from date of issue before a decision on an application is made (see R5.55), visa and immigration officers may request further police certificates as a basis for determining an application.
3. Visa and immigration officers may also request further police certificates within the 12-month period if there is good reason to do so.
4. The applicant is responsible for meeting all the costs of obtaining a police certificate.
5. Only original or certified copies of police certificates are to be provided with applications.
6. If a police certificate is not written in English, the original or certified copy must be accompanied by a translation that:
   1. is full and complete, and
   2. is prepared and certified by a translator, and
   3. is on official letterhead, and
   4. bears the stamp or signature of the translator.

A5.10.1 If police certificates are unavailable

1. Provision of police or similar certificates is a mandatory requirement for the grant of residence in all cases (except for applicants under 17). The only exception is where a visa officer who holds the position of service leader or an immigration officer with Schedule 2 delegations or above is satisfied that such certificates are not available or would be unduly difficult to obtain (for example where the authorities of any such country will not generally provide such certificates).
2. Evidence of undue difficulty in obtaining police or similar certificates may include, but is not limited, to:
   1. information indicating conditions in the relevant country are such that the country’s governmental infrastructure is no longer functioning, and/or
   2. confirmation that there are circumstances beyond the control of the applicants which prevent them obtaining the required certificates.

      Note: Such circumstances do not include difficulty in paying for the certificates or delays in obtaining them.

3. If a visa officer who holds the position of service leader or an immigration officer with Schedule 2 delegations or above is satisfied that a police certificate is not available or unduly difficult to obtain from a particular country, then that immigration or visa officer may require the applicant to make and provide a separate statutory declaration in both English and the applicant's own language.
4. The statutory declaration must:
   1. detail the applicant's attempts to obtain a police certificate, and
   2. state whether the applicant and any accompanying family members have been convicted, or found guilty of, or charged with offences against the law of that country, or have not been charged with any offences against the law of that country, and
   3. be corroborated by other information confirming the applicant's character.
5. Any decision to waive the production of:
   1. a police or similar certificate; and/or
   2. a statutory declaration instead of a police or similar certificate,

   must be made by an officer with Schedule 2 delegations or above.

Effective 19/02/2004