Getting a Police Certificate from Saudi Arabia - Instructions
- Thread starter akcec
- Start date
akcec said:Hi Everyone,
I know that lots of people struggle to get a police certificate from Saudi Arabia. There are no clear instructions on how to do it and the Saudi embassies are of no help. I recently went through the struggle of getting mine and thought to share the process to make it easier for everyone else who is looking for information on how to get one. Note that the process that I followed applies to my particular situation and may not apply to yours. So if your situation is similar to mine then this post may help you, otherwise I would continue searching the web for other help resources. I should also mention that the process may seem overwhelming at first: it sure is a bit of work to get the police certificate, but if you break it down into steps and finish them one by one then you will get there pretty quick. Even though I had to do tons of research and lots of back and forth I was still able to obtain my police certificate in one month! (this is a record time given the complications of dealing with Saudi authorities -).
Hi , what happens if you no longer have your iqama? I have the contract i signed with the employer in Saudi as well as the reference letter at exit . pls advice
My situation: I am a Lebanese citizen who lived in Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2007 then came to Canada for University when I was 20 years old. I never returned to Saudi Arabia since and currently have no legal status in that country. But I do have some relatives that still live there who helped me get the police certificate. The police certificate was specifically requested by CIC as part of the RPRF payment email for the purposes of my Permanent Residence application in Canada.
How to obtain the police certificate. With the help of your contact in Saudi Arabia:
- Obtain a request letter from your country's embassy in Saudi Arabia. This request letter is required by the police department in Saudi Arabia to provide the police certificate.
- Take your fingerprints in Canada and send them to your contact along with 2 passport size photos.
- Take the request letter, fingerprints, and photos to the local police department in Saudi Arabia (Criminal Investigation Unit/Adela Jena2ya). They will stamp the fingerprints with "No Criminal Record" stamp and return it back. THIS IS the police certificate (or criminal record if you prefer). You will not get (or need) any other document. They only stamp the fingerprints and this is all you need. Note that every country has a different format.
- Optionally authenticate the stamp from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia. I don't know if this is a required step by CIC but no harm in doing it if you can.
To obtain the request letter from your embassy in Saudi Arabia:
- You will need a copy of your (old) iqama and a copy of your passport. The requirements may vary per embassy so call your embassy to get the exact details.
- Ask your contact to take these documents to your embassy and obtain the request letter. The embassy should know what the letter is.
- After obtaining the request letter it must be authenticated from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia. Otherwise the local police department will not accept it. So ask your contact there to authenticate the letter from the Ministry of Foreign affairs (tip: it will be a lot easier if they take a Saudi national with them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, otherwise they may not be able to authenticate).
To obtain your fingerprints in Canada:
- Call your local police department in Canada and schedule an appointment to take your fingerprints for the purposes of Permanent Residence. You will need a printed copy of the fingerprints, not digital.
- After taking the fingerprints they must be notarized. Take the fingerprints to a local notary. On the back you have to write and sign "I, <Your Name>, hereby certify that this is an original document issued by the <Name of Local Police Department>". The signature should be done in front of the notary public. They will notarize your signature.
- Authenticate the fingerprints from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. Instructions: www.international.gc.ca/about-a_propos/authentication-authentification_documents.aspx?lang=eng#Criminal_record_checks
- Authenticate the fingerprints from the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Ottawa. Instructions: www.embassies.mofa.gov.sa/sites/canada/EN/ConsulateSection/Certifications/Pages/Legalization-of-other-documents.aspx.
- Note that in order for the Saudi Police department to accept your fingerprints taken in Canada the fingerprints must be authenticated by the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Canada. The embassy requires that you first notarize the fingerprints then authenticate them from the Department of Foreign Affairs (thus the lengthy process). You can find this information on the Embassy of Saudi Arabia website using the link provided above.
How I obtained my police certificate in detail:
After CIC requested the police certificate, I sent my uncle, who lives in Riyadh, a scan copy of my (old) Iqama and passport. My uncle took these documents to the Lebanese embassy in Riyadh (my country of origin's embassy) and explained to them that I need to obtain a police certificate for the purposes of my PR application in Canada. Without hesitance, the embassy gave him an official request letter and asked him to take the letter to the Criminal Investigation Unit in Riyadh (Adela Jena2eya) after certifying the letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But before he could go to the Criminal Investigation Unit I should send him my fingerprints. To obtain these, I went to the local police department in my city who took my fingerprints and gave me an official fingerprints document. I notarized the document from a notary public then sent them to my friend who lives in Ottawa. My good friend authenticated the fingerprints at the Department of Foreign Affairs then dropped them off to the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Ottawa. After the embassy mailed me back the authenticated documents I took photos and sent all the documents to my uncle in Riyadh with a good friend who happened to be flying there that week. Once my uncle received the documents he stamped the fingerprints with "No Criminal Record" from the criminal investigation unit then authenticated from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and mailed them back to me. The whole process took about one month.
That's it people! I hope this post was helpful. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Dear LassoLasso said:
Thanks. Did you receive earlier the instructions and form sent by LVO by mail. If yes kindly send it to me by email. Just curious to see what LVO suggests
Thanks in advance
If your application is being processed at the Canadian High Commission in London, you are not required to get a police certificate until the London visa office sends you a police certificate request letter with instructions on how to apply.PAuaePakTor said:
I didn't receive any instruction from LVO. If you have received just share with us.
Anything else you are welcome
Good luck
our saudi clearance just has a " no criminal record" on the finger print copy we sent from home country ( which was also attested by foreign ministry and saudi embassy here) and is signed and sealed. is this sufficient? or does it also need to be endorsed by foreign ministry in jeddah ?
Gents,
I have one question I need help with urgently, I have been working in Saudi Arabia for the past two years, I did not issue a PCC for Saudi Arabia since CIC states the following on it's website:
"
A police certificate request letter will be sent to you by mail after your application for Permanent Residence has been received. You must present this letter, along with valid identification and proof of legal residency in Saudi Arabia to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If they approve you, the letter will give you the address to the police headquarters where you must go and apply in person.
If your application is being processed at the Canadian High Commission in London, you are not required to get a police certificate until the London visa office sends you a police certificate request letter with instructions on how to apply.
For applications being processed at any other office, request letters can be requested by e-mail: riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca or fax: 966-1-488-9657. Please include the file number, the office where you applied and your mailing address.
If you are applying at the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE, you should submit a police certificate with your application. You can contact the visa office for a request letter at fax: (971 2) 694-0396 or e-mail: abu-dhabi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca. Please include your immigration file number if you have one.
"
So does that mean after submitting my ePR application, CIC will request PCC from Saudi Arabia and only then should I start the process? or should I email "riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca" and ask for the letter and start the process from now?
I have one question I need help with urgently, I have been working in Saudi Arabia for the past two years, I did not issue a PCC for Saudi Arabia since CIC states the following on it's website:
"
A police certificate request letter will be sent to you by mail after your application for Permanent Residence has been received. You must present this letter, along with valid identification and proof of legal residency in Saudi Arabia to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If they approve you, the letter will give you the address to the police headquarters where you must go and apply in person.
If your application is being processed at the Canadian High Commission in London, you are not required to get a police certificate until the London visa office sends you a police certificate request letter with instructions on how to apply.
For applications being processed at any other office, request letters can be requested by e-mail: riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca or fax: 966-1-488-9657. Please include the file number, the office where you applied and your mailing address.
If you are applying at the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE, you should submit a police certificate with your application. You can contact the visa office for a request letter at fax: (971 2) 694-0396 or e-mail: abu-dhabi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca. Please include your immigration file number if you have one.
"
So does that mean after submitting my ePR application, CIC will request PCC from Saudi Arabia and only then should I start the process? or should I email "riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca" and ask for the letter and start the process from now?
This is a tricky one to understand. I haven't figured it out completely, but here my assumption is:
If you're currently in Saudi Arabia, and applied under EE and got an ITA, then technically you should be eligible to get the request letter from riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca, since you're now required to upload several documents (including PCC) within 90 days of ITA. But since I'm not in the EE pool, I can't say for sure.
Have you tried writing to riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca? Please share if you have figured it out!
Last edited:
Hi Guys, I have the same problem and I wrote to 'riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca' for clarifications. However, I am still confused about the correct procedure. I received an ITA and have to submit all the required documents, but as mentioned earlier in this post, we are not required to obtain Saudi PCC until after the PR application has been sent.
"
Dear Sir/ Madam,
Kindly follow the below instructions to collect the police clearance request letter:
- If you have applied for immigration at the Canadian High Commission in London, please send your request by e-mail to: london-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca
- If you have applied at the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE, please send your request by fax (971-2) 694-0396 or e-mail to: abu-dhabi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca
- If you have applied for immigration in any other office AND if you are residing in Riyadhplease send us an e-mail with the name of the Immigration Office handling your application, your immigration file number, full name, and the number of copies needed. (Dependents aged 18 years and above also require a Police Clearance if they are applying with you.) Our office will add your name to the gate list to enable you to collect your letter from the gate at the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh anytime from Sunday to Thursday, between 08:00 to 04:00 PM.
- If you have applied for immigration in any other office and if you are residing in Eastern Saudi Arabia ( Dammam, Dhahran, AlKhobar, Jubail, Hofuf,...), please send us an e-mail with the immigration office handling your application, your immigration file number, mailing address, and our office will send you the letter via Aramex, in which case you will have to pay the shipping fees when you collect your package.
- If you have applied for immigration in any other office and you are residing in Western Saudi Arabia (Jeddah, Taif, Makkah, Medina, Tabuk, Abha, Khamis Mushayt,..) please send your request to the Canadian Consulate in Jeddah by e-mail to:canada.consulate.jeddah@mattarest.com.
- If you are residing in Canada, please contact your country of origin embassy in Saudi Arabia to acquire assistance.
- If you are residing outside of Saudi Arabia and Canada, please contact the nearest Saudi Embassy.
Please note that Police Clearance Certificates have one year validity only, and that our office provides only one request letter per applicant.
Regards,
Visa section,
Embassy of Canada to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ambassade du Canada auprès du Royaume d'Arabie saoudite
Diplomatic Quarter/Enceinte diplomatique
P.O. Box 94321, Riyadh 11693/CP 94321, Riyad 11693
Fax: 966-1-488-9657
Email: riyadh.visa@international.gc.ca
"
Please share your comments!
hi,
can someone please help?
if i need a criminal record certificate from saudi for canadian spouce visa process, how recent should it be? and if the certificate obtained is under my iqama name which is different from passport name, will that affect my application?
can someone please help?
if i need a criminal record certificate from saudi for canadian spouce visa process, how recent should it be? and if the certificate obtained is under my iqama name which is different from passport name, will that affect my application?
Hi, can any one please help me?
I submitted my Fingerprint page with Saudi ‘NO CRIMINAL RECORD’ stamp to CIC for my PR application. But I just received a letter from CIC saying that I have not provided them the Saudi PCC and I need to provide it with next 7 days.
What did I do wrong? I don’t have any thing else to submit? Do I need to get translation of the Arabic stamp in English? Please advise.
I submitted my Fingerprint page with Saudi ‘NO CRIMINAL RECORD’ stamp to CIC for my PR application. But I just received a letter from CIC saying that I have not provided them the Saudi PCC and I need to provide it with next 7 days.
What did I do wrong? I don’t have any thing else to submit? Do I need to get translation of the Arabic stamp in English? Please advise.
Hello !
I hope that you are someone else is still watching this thread, none the less I would like to inquire about what you did after the response you got above? I'm in a similar situation. The processes are confusing to be honest, specially if someone like myself hasnt got any agent or anyone to guide.