If you are a citizen of India AND you live OUTSIDE India
1. Apply at Indian embassy / consulate
Miscellaneous services form is used for PCC certificate. Each Indian embassy/ Provider can have different format for this form.
Hence, I have shared the links for each separately here:
| Country | Embassy / PCC provider |
|---|---|
| USA | Houston- TX / New York City- NY / Chicago- IL / San Francisco- CA / Atlanta- GA |
2. Download and print Misc Services form.
Fill it using this Sample Police clearance application form for Indian Embassy in Houston, TX, USA.
The information will remain same for all other consulates too. Just the format is different.
3. Indian PCC fees - $25 + $2 per person (USA)
If sending by mail, an extra payment of $20 is required for return shipping for your Police certificate.
TOTAL = $25 + 2 + 20 = 47 (Get 3 separate checks).
Payment by Certified check or Money order is acceptable drawn in favor of “Consulate General of India”, if sending the application by postal mail.
Cash is also accepted if visiting embassy in-person.
Personal checks, Debit cards, and Credit cards are not accepted.
I would recommend mailing the documents if your most recent passport was issued in India. Embassy requests police verification from India before issuing you the certificate. It takes about 4-6 weeks.
If your most recent Indian passport was issued in USA (any consulate), the process is quicker and takes only about 4-5 days by mail.
Some consulates issue the PCC immediately too if you visit in person and your passport was issued in USA.
4. Documents Required for Indian PCC
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Most recent valid ORIGINAL PASSPORT.
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US Address proof - Self attested - Check valid acceptable US address proof here.
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Photocopy of passport pages containing personal particulars (first three and last two pages) - Self-attested
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Copy of valid Visa/Green Card to prove US legal status.
Collect payment checks, supporting documents (original passport needs to be sent), miscellaneous application form and send them to Indian embassy by mail.
No prepaid return envelopes are required. Embassy will take care of it.
Your original passport will be returned with your police certificate.
Sample Indian police clearance certificate as issued by Indian Embassy in USA
If you are a citizen of India AND you live in India
You can apply for a Police Clearance Certificate from the Passport office on the Passport India website.
If you are NOT a citizen of India AND you live in India
You can apply at your local district police station.
Do I need to provide a police certificate for Canadian Express Entry and Australian PR?
Yes for both.
If you are Invited to Apply Canadian or Australian Permanent Residence, you need to upload a police certificate in your Electronic Application for Permanent Residence (e-APR).
Is Character certificate same as Police Certificate?
Character Certificates are not same police certificate and are NOT accepted by countries like Canada and Australia for their permanent resident application.
Will there be police verification (PV) done by Indian Police at my address?
1. Applied for PCC at passport office in INDIA?
If your first passport was issued on 1 Jan, 2005 and you apply for certificate in 2012 and currently residing at the same address as in current passport, then you are issued the PCC on the same day of appointment in passport office, without any new police verification.
If your first passport was issued on 1 Jan, 2005 and was renewed on 1 Jan, 2015 with the same Indian address, then applying PCC any time until 31 Dec 2017 will not trigger any new Police verfication.
If you apply for PCC anytime after 1 Jan, 2018, there will be a physical police verification required, even if you have been staying at the same address.
Police verification is valid for a stretch of 13 years, after which, a new one is required.
If the address in your passport is different from your current address, police verification will be done irrespective of the years passed.
2. Applied for PCC at Indian Embassy when staying outside India?
If your passport was issued in India, the embassy sends the request to Indian passport office and waits for their response.
Officially, they have mentioned the time frame of about 6-8 weeks for getting results back from India.
There is no Police verification done at the Indian address in this case.
If the passport was issued by Indian Consulate abroad, the PCC is issued immediately with no delays. Most of the time, it is issued within a week.
Can husband and wife send the PCC application in same package to Indian embassy?
Yes, you can.
Just separate the two application and their supporting documents by keeping them in small envelope separately for easy segregation by Embassy officials.