[Robert2099]

Hello,

My fiance is an American citizen, and we are currently applying for a partner visa. I am her sponsor. As part of this process, we must submit an overseas penal clearance certificate for all of the countries that she has lived in for more than 12 months.

She worked in China, Baoshan, Yunnan between 2012 and 2014. We are asking a friend of hers, who lives in Baoshan, to apply for the Certificate of No Criminal Convictions on her behalf, so that my fiance doesn't have to fly back to China herself.

I was wondering what paperwork her friend would need to apply for the Certificate of No Criminal Convictions from the local police station?

Once my fiance's friend has obtained the certificate and has had it notarized, I was also wondering how he would go about getting the certificate certified by the US Consulate General Chengdu in China? Does the friend need to mail the certificate to the Consulate, or does he need to bring the certificate to the Consulate in person?

Thank you very much for your time.

 

[wrussell]

in person

Yes, but there is more to it than that.

 

[dejainc]

My wife had to do it in person in Shanghai, they wouldn't let her sister do it.

 

[Robert2099]

Apologies for the late response to your replies. My partner has been in contact with her friend in Yunnan, trying to get this thing sorted out, and I was waiting until I had some solid information, which took longer than I thought.

Unfortunately, her friend, who is well connected, still can't work out what the process is. No one he has spoken to, including at the police, seems to know what this certificate is or how to get it.

Does anybody know someone who is fluent in Mandarin and knows how to navigate Chinese bureaucracy to obtain a police check?

Are there any reliable services in China that can help with this process? At this point, we are getting desperate.

Thanks so much for your time.

 

[Robert2099]

I forgot to mention, we also contacted the US Consulate General Chengdu in China. They said that the process is decentralised, and different for each region, so we would need to speak to locals to find out how to obtain this certificate. They also said that once the certificate has been obtained, it needs to be brought to them in person to be officiated, but that my partner's friend would be able to do this (if he is up for making the trip, that is ).

 

[dejainc]

That's correct, the certificate will only be produced based on the work or living permit of the issuing area.

If their system worked in Aus it would be like this: My work permit says I live in Yarraville, Melbourne, Victoria. So i would have to go to the police station that is in charge of Yarraville (very small only few staff who may not know what im talking about). Next suburb is Footscray (3km away) which is a major police station/hub but im not allowed to go there because my permit says i don't belong in that catchment and they will tell me to go to Yarraville.

So your fiancee needs to get the original work permit out and find out which catchment she belongs to. Then her friend needs to go in person to obtain it. It will take a bit of effort as they don't do many of them.

 

[Robert2099]

That's correct, the certificate will only be produced based on the work or living permit of the issuing area.

If their system worked in Aus it would be like this: My work permit says I live in Yarraville, Melbourne, Victoria. So i would have to go to the police station that is in charge of Yarraville (very small only few staff who may not know what im talking about). Next suburb is Footscray (3km away) which is a major police station/hub but im not allowed to go there because my permit says i don't belong in that catchment and they will tell me to go to Yarraville.

So your fiancee needs to get the original work permit out and find out which catchment she belongs to. Then her friend needs to go in person to obtain it. It will take a bit of effort as they don't do many of them.

Thank you so much! This is the clearest answer we have gotten so far. My fiance is going to contact the program she worked for, and find out what catchment she belongs to. At this point she thinks it could be Baoshan in Yunnan or Beijing! Only time will tell. Thanks again.

 

[dejainc]

Its a pain in the ass, the wife had to go back on different days a few times until she saw someone who knew the document and can process one. Took a few weeks if i recall.