Leaving HK - criminal record check
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Leaving HK - criminal record check
Quick question aimed at those leaving or who have left HK. My mum has just emigrated to the UK and one of the things she was thinking of doing in retirement was to be a guardian for overseas children at boarding school in the UK. To do so, she will need a criminal record check. Had she been based in the UK, she would have applied to the Disclosure and Barring service. Having been living in HK for the last 18 years, how can she go about getting an equivalent confirmation of no convictions from the HK police? There must be a process, as it would be needed for airside pass applications.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
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I went through this last year, or tried to. I Retired from HKG in September 2017 and I had some spare time to fill my days, during the NZ Winter months, whilst I waited to start my new house build, which has been a saga in itself and I looked at driving one of the Special Needs minibuses and a Driving Miss Daisy thing, where you get booked to take mainly older folks and those on Medical Assistance, to the Shops or appointments etc. To do that, you need a 'P' Licence', which is a Passenger Licence and to get that, you need to have a Police Check. They wanted me to report on my 5 years I lived in the UK from 1979 to 1984, getting clearances from the various Police Stations where I lived. Then to do the same with the Hong Kong side of things, for the last 33 years living and working there, the procedures for that were even more complicated and long winded and it was not going to be really possible to do from NZ, with the administrative road blocks and lack of common sense in HKG and it all got in the too hard tray and I gave it away. I waited patiently for the Summer and now play a lot more golf and go fishing and biking for my sins.
There are some things you think would be easy and straight forward to do, but they are not and unless I had those clearances, which would have taken months, a lot of hassles and effort on my part, just to get a simple P Licence, there was no way the NZ Authorities were going to budge on it either. It is crazy, but it is what it is and you will beat your brains in, trying to change things at times, out of frustration. The Dingbats are taking over the world.
Cheers. PH
There are some things you think would be easy and straight forward to do, but they are not and unless I had those clearances, which would have taken months, a lot of hassles and effort on my part, just to get a simple P Licence, there was no way the NZ Authorities were going to budge on it either. It is crazy, but it is what it is and you will beat your brains in, trying to change things at times, out of frustration. The Dingbats are taking over the world.
Cheers. PH
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The Hong Kong police website states that a criminal clearance letter will only be approved in connection with a person's application for a visa to visit, study or reside in another country, or for adoption of children. However, there is a vague reference to also providing this service when a letter is provided from the relevant Consulate / Immigration Authority / Government Authority, which contains his or her name and clearly indicates that the production of the Certificate is required.
I needed a criminal clearance letter for reasons other than immigration or adoption and was successful in obtaining it.
Contact the notary section of your consulate in Hong Kong and request a letter from the consulate to the Hong Kong police asking for the criminal reference clearance check. Download the application for a criminal clearance check from the Hong Kong police website. Take the consulate letter and completed application to the the Hong Kong Police Headquarters located at 1 Arsenal Street, Wan Chai.
The clearance letter will be sent to your consulate and then forwarded to you.
I needed a criminal clearance letter for reasons other than immigration or adoption and was successful in obtaining it.
Contact the notary section of your consulate in Hong Kong and request a letter from the consulate to the Hong Kong police asking for the criminal reference clearance check. Download the application for a criminal clearance check from the Hong Kong police website. Take the consulate letter and completed application to the the Hong Kong Police Headquarters located at 1 Arsenal Street, Wan Chai.
The clearance letter will be sent to your consulate and then forwarded to you.
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You will need to have fingerprints taken to obtain a police clearance from HK or any other country . I don’t know if she can arrange to have fingerprints taken elsewhere and sent to HK
Join Date: Jul 2014
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I don't think you need fingerprints.
My son (just became an ambo) needed a HKG criminal check because he lived here for a bit. He used this mob, without fingerprints.
Seemed legit!
My son (just became an ambo) needed a HKG criminal check because he lived here for a bit. He used this mob, without fingerprints.
Seemed legit!
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Anyone leaving Cathay for a European carrier will require a HK criminal record to get an airside pass through the new operator if they've been in HK more than 5 years. The problem is HK is vey restrictive about issuing criminal checks and a letter from the new operator is ususally not sufficient. You may need to involve your embassy (on behalf of your carrier's national AOC) to get enough weight behind the application.
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Thanks for the comments. My mum had already approached the police before leaving but was told about the CRC only in connection with a visa application. I'm not sure if she was aware of the other clause. I'll pass on the advice regarding contacting the British Consulate and see how that goes.
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I've had to do it twice, once for an employer's background checks, and once for a residency visa in another country.
raven11 has described the process I also went through for the visa. Note that the HK Police do not issue the letter to you, the subject of the check - they will only issue letters to the requesting authority. They have discretion as to what constitutes a valid request - my guess is it needs to be governmental-level authority such as a consulate (so I'm not sure if a request from a council or other local authority from abroad will fly). I don't know if companies specialising in background checks will be entertained, but I certainly suspect employers will not
Which leads me to the second method, which I did for my employment check. Every HK resident has the right to show up at the cop shop on Arsenal Street to make a verbal enquiry as to whether they have any criminal record, charges pending, etc. An officer will search for your record, and if they don't find one, inform you of that fact. What they won't do is give you a bit of paper confirming that (so helpful). However, you can bring along a witness - in my case it was an employee of a company specialising in background checks, engaged to do so by my prospective employer - who will then report back. If your mum's potential employer can get their heads around this method and appoint an actuary or other agent to witness a check for criminal records, this is far, far quicker and more easily achieved. Zero paperwork required, no appointment or anything. Downside, of course, is you have to be in HK in person to do it.
Hope that helps.
raven11 has described the process I also went through for the visa. Note that the HK Police do not issue the letter to you, the subject of the check - they will only issue letters to the requesting authority. They have discretion as to what constitutes a valid request - my guess is it needs to be governmental-level authority such as a consulate (so I'm not sure if a request from a council or other local authority from abroad will fly). I don't know if companies specialising in background checks will be entertained, but I certainly suspect employers will not
Which leads me to the second method, which I did for my employment check. Every HK resident has the right to show up at the cop shop on Arsenal Street to make a verbal enquiry as to whether they have any criminal record, charges pending, etc. An officer will search for your record, and if they don't find one, inform you of that fact. What they won't do is give you a bit of paper confirming that (so helpful). However, you can bring along a witness - in my case it was an employee of a company specialising in background checks, engaged to do so by my prospective employer - who will then report back. If your mum's potential employer can get their heads around this method and appoint an actuary or other agent to witness a check for criminal records, this is far, far quicker and more easily achieved. Zero paperwork required, no appointment or anything. Downside, of course, is you have to be in HK in person to do it.
Hope that helps.
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Just did mine last week.
They will only do this for immigration/visa purposes.
Mine was for US visa. They send the records directly to the consulate in HK. You will not receive a copy.
They also require proof that you need a criminal record check. I was happy to find out that a screen shot was sufficient proof, I did not need an original letter.
hope this helps
They will only do this for immigration/visa purposes.
Mine was for US visa. They send the records directly to the consulate in HK. You will not receive a copy.
They also require proof that you need a criminal record check. I was happy to find out that a screen shot was sufficient proof, I did not need an original letter.
hope this helps
