Police Clearances for an Australian Visa: Country by Country

Migratio Editorial · Last updated 7 September 2026

TL;DR: You need a police clearance from every country you have lived in for 12 months or more, cumulatively, in the past 10 years, generally from age 16. Each country runs its own process — some let you apply entirely online from Australia, others need fingerprints taken locally or a representative back home. Below is the quick version for the six countries applicants ask about most (UK, Ireland, South Africa, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines), each linking to a full step-by-step guide, plus the timing rule and a strategy for coordinating several at once.

Most Australian visa applications need a police clearance — sometimes called a police certificate, penal clearance or certificate of good conduct — from every country you have lived in for a total of 12 months or more (added up, not necessarily in one stretch) in the 10 years before you lodge, generally counting from age 16. Australian embassy guidance puts it plainly: "Police clearances are generally required for all permanent migration applications, for all countries that the applicant has lived in for 12 months or more in the past 10 years." Each country has its own issuing authority, its own fee, and its own idea of how long it should take. This page is the map: it tells you which office to start with for the countries that come up most often for Australian migration, and links through to Migratio's full step-by-step guide for each one. If you're only dealing with a single country, the linked guide is the faster read; if you're juggling three or four at once, the strategy section further down is written for you.

Which Countries Need a Clearance, and From What Age

The rule is a police certificate for every country lived in for 12 months or more cumulatively in the past 10 years, generally counting time from age 16 onward. "Cumulative" matters: three separate 5-month stints in the same country over the 10-year window add up to 15 months and trigger the requirement, even though no single stay reached a year. Time spent living in Australia for 12 months or more in that same window needs an Australian Federal Police (AFP) National Police Check, not a foreign clearance. A country you only visited on short trips does not need one. Work out your own full list — every country, every stay, added up — before you apply anywhere; starting the slowest one late is the single biggest avoidable delay in this part of an application.

United Kingdom: the ACRO Police Certificate

For time in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the document is the ACRO Police Certificate, applied for entirely online at acro.police.uk from anywhere in the world, with no need to be in the UK or a citizen. ACRO offers a standard and a faster premium paid service, both including postage; Scotland is covered separately through Disclosure Scotland, not by ACRO. This is one of the more straightforward certificates on this list precisely because the whole process, start to finish, can be done from Australia. Full walkthrough, current fees and turnaround: /blog/police-clearance-uk-australian-visa.

Ireland: the Garda Police Certificate

Ireland's equivalent is the Garda Police Certificate — a different document from Garda Vetting, which Garda's own site is explicit is not interchangeable with it. It's issued by the Superintendent of the Garda district where you lived (or formerly lived) in the Republic of Ireland, so someone now in Australia posts the application and certified ID to their old local district. It's free, generally takes about three weeks to process once received, and the certificate is valid for 12 months. Time in Northern Ireland instead falls under the UK/ACRO process, not this one. Full walkthrough: /blog/police-clearance-ireland-australian-visa.

South Africa: the SAPS Police Clearance Certificate

South Africa's Police Clearance Certificate is issued centrally by Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management (CR&CSM) in Pretoria, and it has a real reputation for running slow — SAPS's own site currently carries a notice of a backlog extending the usual processing window, on top of an official target of around 15 working days from when a complete application reaches CR&CSM (a target that excludes postal time). Applicants in Australia can be fingerprinted at a local police station or the South African mission and send the form directly to Pretoria, rather than flying home. Because of the backlog, this is routinely the slowest certificate on an applicant's list — start it first. Full walkthrough: /blog/police-clearance-south-africa-australian-visa.

Bangladesh: Sydney Consulate vs Canberra High Commission

A Bangladesh Police Clearance Certificate is actually issued by your local police station in Bangladesh, based on your permanent address there — the Bangladesh mission in Australia only verifies your passport and a Letter of Authorisation naming someone in Bangladesh to lodge the request and collect the certificate. Which office does that verification depends on where you live: the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Sydney handles applicants in NSW and QLD only; everyone else — VIC, SA, TAS, WA, NT and the ACT — goes through the Bangladesh High Commission in Canberra instead. Get this jurisdiction right first, since a wrong-office application is simply not processed. Full walkthrough for both offices: /blog/police-clearance-bangladesh-australian-visa.

India: PCC Through Your Consulate and VFS Global

For Indian nationals in Australia, the Police Clearance Certificate is applied for through the Indian Consulate or High Commission with jurisdiction over your state, with day-to-day handling outsourced to VFS Global, the same contractor India uses for passport and visa services worldwide. The certificate itself is still issued under Indian consular authority; VFS is the counter, not the issuer. Processing from Australia commonly runs several weeks rather than days, longer if verification against your last Indian address is slow. Full walkthrough, including which VFS centre covers your state: /blog/police-clearance-india-australian-visa.

Philippines: NBI Clearance

The NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) Clearance is issued in Manila, not by any embassy or consulate — the Philippine Embassy in Canberra and the Consulates General in Sydney and Melbourne only take your fingerprints and sign the form (some also accept fingerprints taken at an Australian police station instead). Which office you use depends on your state: Sydney for NSW, Melbourne for VIC/SA/Tasmania, Canberra for everywhere else. All require an appointment. Full walkthrough, fees and timing: /blog/police-clearance-philippines-australian-visa.

Other Common Source Countries: USA, Canada, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia

A handful of other countries come up often enough to note briefly, though none has the layered embassy-plus-issuing-authority structure of the six above. The United States uses an FBI Identity History Summary Check based on a fingerprint card — using one of the FBI's approved channelers is the common way to speed this up from overseas, since applying directly can take considerably longer. Canada uses an RCMP-based check, generally arranged through an accredited fingerprinting agency. China's equivalent is a no-criminal-record certificate from a Chinese notarial office, which can require an applicant or authorised representative to attend in person. The UAE issues a Good Conduct Certificate, generally applied for online or through a UAE consulate. Saudi Arabia's clearance runs through the relevant embassy or an in-country service. Fees and turnaround for all five change often enough that the issuing authority's own current page — not a general estimate — is worth checking before you commit to a timeline.

Timing, Validity and Strategy When You Need More Than One

As a rule of thumb, clearances obtained within about 12 months of the visa decision are the ones accepted — a case that runs on longer than expected can mean the Department asks for a fresh one. That cuts against getting every clearance done as early as possible: doing them all at once, months before your other evidence (health checks, skills assessment, employer documents) is ready, risks some expiring again before a decision is made. The practical order is to map every country first, identify the slowest ones — South Africa and the Philippines, from the list above, are routinely the longest — and start those first, timing the faster ones (Ireland, the UK) to land closer to when the rest of the application is ready. A certificate not in English needs a NAATI-accredited translation before it can be used, which is its own lead time. If a country genuinely will not issue you a certificate, document exactly what you tried, when, and what response you got — that evidence is what supports a case for an alternative, rather than the application simply stalling on a missing document. For anyone juggling three or more countries at once, this is one of the areas where a MARA-registered migration agent earns their fee just in project-managing the sequence. Migratio is Australia's marketplace for finding and comparing MARA-registered migration agents, and matches applicants with agents who coordinate multi-country police clearances as part of preparing a case. Submit your brief describing your residence history if you want that coordination taken off your plate. For the character requirement these clearances feed into more broadly, see /blog/character-requirements-pic-4001.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a UK police check for my Australian visa if I only lived there a few years?

Yes, if the total time you lived in the UK adds up to 12 months or more in the past 10 years, on any visa. You apply through ACRO Criminal Records Office online from Australia — no need to be in the UK or a UK citizen. See the full guide at /blog/police-clearance-uk-australian-visa.

How do I get an Irish police check for an Australian visa if I no longer live in Ireland?

Apply for a Garda Police Certificate, not Garda Vetting — they're different documents. Post the application and certified ID to the Superintendent of the Garda district where you used to live; it's free, generally about three weeks to process, and valid for 12 months. Full guide: /blog/police-clearance-ireland-australian-visa.

What does the Bangladesh Consulate in Sydney do for a police clearance certificate?

It verifies your passport and a Letter of Authorisation naming someone in Bangladesh to lodge the request with your local police station, since the certificate is issued by that station based on your permanent address there, not by the Consulate. Sydney handles NSW and QLD applicants only.

What does the Bangladesh High Commission in Canberra do if I'm not in NSW or QLD?

The same passport and authorisation-letter verification as the Sydney Consulate, but for every other state and territory — VIC, SA, TAS, WA, NT and the ACT. The actual clearance is still issued by your local police station in Bangladesh either way.

Can I get a South African police clearance certificate while living in Australia?

Yes. SAPS lets people outside South Africa get fingerprinted at a local police station or the South African mission, using either that country's own fingerprint form or the SAPS 91(a) form, then post it directly to Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management in Pretoria. SAPS's own site currently warns of a backlog extending the usual wait, so start this one early.

Do I need a clearance from every country I've ever visited?

No — only countries where you lived for 12 months or more cumulatively in the past 10 years, generally counting from age 16. Short trips and holidays that never add up to a year in one country don't trigger it. Time in Australia over 12 months in that window needs an AFP National Police Check instead.

Which country's police clearance usually takes the longest?

Of the countries covered here, South Africa and the Philippines are routinely the slowest, each commonly running six weeks or more once postal and verification time is added. Ireland and the UK are typically the fastest, both able to be started and often finished entirely online or by post from Australia within a few weeks.

Can I get certificates too early and have them go stale?

Yes — as a rule of thumb, clearances issued within about 12 months of the visa decision are the ones accepted. Coordinate your slowest certificates first and your fastest ones closer to when the rest of your application evidence is ready, rather than getting everything done on day one.

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