S2NRI

Renewal of Passport or Visa Requires PCC

Also called Police Clearance Certificate, the PCC is a document that non-residents of India often need to verify for temporary or permanent citizenship of a foreign country. Simply put, you can emigrate upon getting this certificate to show off for visa and passport verification.

This certificate is also essential to have for renewal of passport or visa for NRIs.

Besides, foreign affair authorities in some countries like UAE ask to submit it afresh in every six months. So, non-residents need it more often.

The natives may also need it for employment purpose. However, the other countries require you to show it up if you want to solemnize marriage, study and work there.

Documents to Get

• Address Proof-Any of these are acceptable as a residential proof:
  • Aadhaar Card
  • Electricity Bill
  • Proof of Gas Connection
  • Telephone Bill
  • Water Bill
  • Rent Agreement
  • Dependent’s Passport Copy
  • Your Passport Copy
  • Passport of an Active Bank Account With Photo
• Date of Birth Proof-Any of these documents you should have as an age proof:
  • PAN Card
  • Adhaar Card
  • Driving Licence
  • Voter ID Card
  • Life Insurance Policy (in the name of applicant)
  • Birth Certificate By Municipal Corporation
  • Transfer/ Matriculation/ School Leaving Certificate by a recognised school/ board

If you are abroad, call the consular office to get to know about the procedure, as it provides this document or PCC online from India. You may visit in-person to submit application together with supporting documents. This service is payable, which means that you need to pay out for it.

The fee may vary from country to country. You can call the competent authority to know about it.

Procedure to Apply in India

Those who have can come here can directly apply for it in the nearest police station to your residence. If you want, online facility is available that you can access by following these application steps:

• First, get registered through the Passport Seva Online Portal by clicking on the Register Now link emerging on the Home page.
• Login with your registered number or email id from the Passport Seva Online Portal.
• Then, click on the Apply for Police Clearance Certificate
• Fill up all details that are required to put there by the applicant.
• Check the details twice and upload documents in support.
• Submit your application thereafter.
• Then, Pay and Schedule Appointment hyperlink on the View Saved/Submitted Applications screen to visit the office for physical verification.
• You need to do online payment that is mandatory for booking appointments at all PSK/POPSK/PO. You can pay online using any of these modes of payment:

1. a) Credit/Debit Card (MasterCard and Visa)
2. b) Internet Banking (State Bank of India (SBI) Associate Banks and Other Banks)
3. c) SBI Bank Challan

• Get a receipt by clicking on the Print Application Receipt  You can its soft copy by printing the application receipt containing Application Reference Number (ARN)/Appointment Number.

Earlier, the printout of Application Receipt was required. At present, you can show your SMS with your appointment details that have been accepted as proof of appointment during your visit to the Passport Office.

What if Police Verification Fails?

There may have some possibilities of rejection. Your application may be rejected.

In that case, you need to check out the reason of its rejection. Ask from consular office. There may have some discrepancies in your application, such as incorrect or incomplete information provided.  Get to know about the exact reason and then, make sure that you have done rectifications.

Thereafter, reapply for the police clearance certificate (PCC) for passport or visa after three days.

Police clearance certificate (PCC) is issued for safeguarding the interest of non-residents of India and the country where you are emigrating to. If you consider the data of such emigrants in the USA, these are 85,000 applicants who apply to go there every year. The purpose can be tour or travel, study, job or some other reasons.

This kind of verification is essential for those who seek for a long-term visa. This is mainly asked for employment or job or research or higher studies in the foreign. Those who want to fly down there for touring abroad, they don’t need it.

Steps to Get PCC Online from Local Station in India

• Browse the link of local police station in the name of the state, such as Delhi, Kerala etc.
• Select Police Clearance Certificate from its services.
• Get registered with the email id.
• Receive & submit a verification code on the registered email id.
• A “New User Register Here” option will be there to select.
• Select from “individual” for a particular person and “organisation” for the whole firm.
• Login with the email id and password.
• Put your mobile phone number there.
• Enter security code popping on the screen.
• Sign up by clicking on the tab with the same caption.
• Filter the option “Application Form For PCC By An Indian”. The form will pop up.
• Read instructions carefully. For example, Delhi police website reads about field verification in 7 working days for emigration and 21 days for employment. It also shows warning that the certificate will be cancelled without any notice if found being misused.
• Provide all details required in the fields of the form.
• Select PCC type as Emigration (if you want to go abroad for any reason) or Employment (if you want to study abroad).
• Upon filling all necessary details like name, address and many other ones, upload your photograph (applicant’s picture) in JPEG format. It should not be more than 20 KB.
• Like picture, upload the scanned proof of your address and the letter of agency that requires PCC. The letter should be 200KB or less in JPEG format.
• If you live on the rent, attach its agreement. This should also be under 200KB in the JPEG format.
• Hit the “reviews” tab and save your online application.
• Redirect to payment gateway, where you need to pay the requisite fee.
• Now, you can have a PCC number, flashing on the screen. Save it for future reference.

Checklist of Documents to Support PCC Application

• Photograph
• Rent Agreement, if you live on the rent
• Letter of Agency, if it is sought for employment
• Address Proof, if you have any permanent address

The police department can ask for any other document, if needed to verify your identity and purpose.

Steps to Get PCC from the Local Police Station in India Physically or In-Person

• Collect all documents in the checklist.
• Visit the local police station near you.
• The police officer will enquire about the purpose while running a brief background check.
• He will ask for self-attested supporting documents.
• Pay the requisite fee in cash or through a certified cheque.

NRIs to Follow This Procedure

If you are an NRI, it’s hard to come down here just to follow the procedure. In such a condition, you need to apply with the Embassy. These steps can help you to get off hassles:

• Visit the consulate official.
• Fill the police verification for to apply.
• Show up all supporting documents, which have been self-attested.
• Pay the requisite amount as a service charge to get it verified and attested by the police.
• Upon verification, the application will be approved and the certificate will be issued from India.

How Long Should You Wait for Its Delivery?

If your application and supporting documents do not show any discrepancy, you can get it on the same day from the local police station. But if there are some, you have to get to the concerned authority of the document, like adhaar card or voter id, for correcting the mistakes in them. This correction can take a week or more. So, you should first check your documents and then, visit the station.

Embassy can deliver it in a fortnight or a month, depending on the accuracy of the form and documents.

The Police Clearance Certificate or PCC is an important link in the verification of an individual who applies for the job or takes admission in the overseas varsity. Besides, there can be other reasons, such as marriage, or visa or, passport renewals etc..

Requirement of PCC

People often times move from one place to another for different reasons. This is the responsibility of the immigration department or foreign affair ministry to check the authenticity of the emigrant. This is where PCC emerges as a crucial document for NRIs to obtain and submit it with the competent authority of the resident country. It carries indigenous or overseas criminal record check report, as in the USA or the UK or anywhere. The immigration authority & the embassy check their criminal record significantly between countries.

In short, all countries allow individuals to obtain the copy of their own criminal record or the confirmation of no panel record, depending on the report. The digitization has already made it super easy for people to apply for it online or through a secure email system.

Forgery

For some people, this is just a matter of mocking. A migrant worker from Bihar who sought after a refinery job in Kochi was caught when he submitted a fake police verification certificate in March this year. The BPCL refinery authority conducted authenticity check, which brought the forgery in the light. Likewise, there occur thousands of frauds despite knowing that this is a criminal offence.

Authority to Issue & Manage

The governments have typically authorized Embassy, Consulate or High Commission to take up applications of the non-residents for this certificate. Yet, the immigration department would largely depend on the provincial system of criminal record management, where individual records are kept at a local police station, to cross check the authenticity of this document.

Turnaround Time 

The time to complete request for getting this certificate is inconsistent across the range of countries. However, the countries that offer online processes typically are faster with the process. In a few countries, a fresh certificate needs to be submitted in every six months as per the said law.

On an average, it may take one week to a fortnight or more, depending on the system.

European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

To regulate such offences of forged personal data cases, the European Union constituted directive principles. It was introduced in March 2018.

This regulation manipulates the use of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences can be processed only under these conditions:

• If the matter is under the control of official authority;
• Or, when it is authorised by the law providing for appropriate safeguards for the rights and freedoms of data subjects.

This law allows the processing of criminal conviction data for a variety of reasons, as employment, social security and social protection, substantial public interest, health & social care, public health and for archiving to feed research and statistics.

The need of this law rose when various organizations and authorities required a policy that comprises procedures to secure compliance with the principles of the GDPR in relation to the processing of criminal records.

This law also puts policies to endure erasure and retention of that data. If required, the competent authority of various member governments can access criminal records data, given that the data subject has sent the consent for meeting specific requirements under this regulatory law.

To ensure its no misuse, the organizations must raise a request to address criminal record processing officially. This is how the protective regulation covers all legitimate purposes for processing sensitive and criminal data.

There may have some cases when organizations require the details in this certificate for serving their own purposes. The records are not revealed unless there are certain concrete judicial reasons to have it. It is solely the consent of the data subject that can allow them to use that information. That person can ask to remove it anytime.

The penalty for infringing this law could be whopping dollars or pounds to pay compensation for invading the right to privacy of the data subject. The rigorous imprisonment is also a part of this conviction, once proved.