Police checks?

Y

youngsoulrebel

New Member
Hi Guys

Myself and my wife are starting the process of moving to Auistralia on the GSM visa 136. However we need police checks for the last 10 years and we lived in your great country in the beautiful city of Gronigen from 1998 till 2002 (and a fantastic time was had) so we need a dutch police checks for both of us for that period.
We have no idea how to organise this.

Any help would be appreciated?
 
Have you just started the whole procedure or are you already in the final stage of the immigration procedure. Else it isn't a really good idea to already start getting your police clearance certificates. The entry date of you into Australia is dependent of the date of the police clearance certificate. A better option is to start the whole procedure (Skills Assessment, Ielts, Visa Application and thereafter trying to get your police clearance certificate and medicals).

If you need a police clearance certificate the normal procedure is that you go to your city council (public affairs department) and you hand them a form from the Immigration Department, stating that you need the Police Clearance Certificate. Otherwise it is very well possible that the city council is unwilling to provide you that document. Don't ask me why you wouldn't get it, I believe it is everybody's own right to know if your Police Clearance Certificate is blank.
 
[quote author=Maluka link=topic=7223.msg92603#msg92603 date=1181741178]
Have you just started the whole procedure or are you already in the final stage of the immigration procedure. Else it isn't a really good idea to already start getting your police clearance certificates. The entry date of you into Australia is dependent of the date of the police clearance certificate. A better option is to start the whole procedure (Skills Assessment, Ielts, Visa Application and thereafter trying to get your police clearance certificate and medicals).

If you need a police clearance certificate the normal procedure is that you go to your city council (public affairs department) and you hand them a form from the Immigration Department, stating that you need the Police Clearance Certificate. Otherwise it is very well possible that the city council is unwilling to provide you that document. Don't ask me why you wouldn't get it, I believe it is everybody's own right to know if your Police Clearance Certificate is blank.
[/quote]

Thanks for the reply.
We have just started the process, we are waiting for the skills assessment certificate to come back from the CPA so are really at the beginning of it all. (BTW we won't need IELTS).
I just wanted to find out how to get it from Holland when we do need to get it in a few months. We know how to get it from our own country but its the dutch side of things that we are not sure of. Do we have to travel over to Groningen Gemeente to get it when we do need it.

BTW what is the average timeline for getting visa GSM 136 from the Netherlands?
 
Ahh ok. In that case, as I said in my previous posts, you have to go the public affairs department of your city with some sort of document from the organisation who needs the police clearance certificate.

We are not in that stage yet. We are still waiting to receive an acknowledgement number from DIAC and. Hope that doesn't take long anymore.....

Normally it would take approximately 1 year or a little over 1 year.....
 
If I understand correctly, I think they are no longer living in Holland (am I correct, youngsoulrebel?). Probably you would have to contact the council (gemeente) where you have lived the last OR go straight to the Department of Justice. I think details should be availbe somewhere on the fourm here?
 
It is not a matter of picking it up at the town hall anymore. You'll have to send in an application form and evidence that you need the information and for what purpose. Then the local people will check and complete your personal details based on the GBA (Gemeentelijke Basis Adminstratie = local population register) and send it to a special unit in the Justice Department (COVOG). They check the registers and issue the clearance. Alltogether this takes 4 - 6 weeks and costs 30 euros a pop.
 
[quote author=perthpete link=topic=7223.msg92665#msg92665 date=1181792687]
If I understand correctly, I think they are no longer living in Holland (am I correct, youngsoulrebel?). [/quote]

Oops, my mistake. I misread the initial message by youngsoulrebel. They left Groningen in 2002.
 
This is the site where you can read about the procedure.

http://english.justitie.nl/themes/vog/index.aspx

Cheers,

Miranda
 
Hi there Youngsoulrebel,

With the link you can go to the e-service of Groningen for information about the Police Clearance.

https://eloket.groningen.nl/do/portal/product?&persistenceId=15372&systemId=P0007
 
Thanks everyone.
You are all helpful here. I will check out those links. Hopefully I wont' have to come all the way to holland to get these checks and that I can do it on-line.
Perth pete you are right , We left in 2002.
Thanks again. Will let you know how we got on.
 
Hi all,
Is DIAC really prepared to fill out their parts of those forms and sign them? Anybody recent experience with this - preferably with the Brisbane office? Thanks!
 
As far as I know:

Go to the website of the Justice Department, where you can print out the form you need.(or from website of any council, it is the same form everywhere...)
Fill it in and send it back to them (with appropriate fees...)

I used the address of the Immigration Department and it was not necessary to have them signed or anything. To be sure you can always include a copy of the chapter from the migration booklet where it says you need these police checks.

Shouldn't be a problem...

Henriette
 
I am going to add their address in adelaide on the first page of the application and send a copy of the page explaining police checks required.
I called them up in Den haag and they said they had to have a letter from DIAC with my name on it specifically requesting the COVOG. DIAC don't give this letter out so I am going to do what Henriette did, I'd say it will be ok.
By the way what do you have to fill in on the other 5 pages??
 
I just made my request by email to the municipality in Oss. They accept this if you scan everything in color, just the way you need to do for the visa application itself. I included a PDF print of the acknowledgement email I received shortly after sumitting the online application, the form 47P in PDF, a scan of the main passport page and the scanned request form. Now I just have to transfer the fee and then they will send it to the Department of Justice.
 
Hi everyone again.

Well we finally got a case officer for our application this morning however he has requested that we send a translated version of the VOG dutch certificate of character. It is in english at the bottom so does it really need to be translated.
A few people on britishexpats have said that the english paragraph on the bottom will be fine but have you had any experience of this.
Did you all get your VOG's with the english bit at the bottom aswell or was it just like that for foreigners.
There has been instances of inexperienced case officers missing the english paragraph so maybe if I point this out it will be fine??? I hope :|

Thanks :up:

p.s: I will start a new thread on this here if thats ok with this question as this might be missed on this thread.
 
Yep, the English paragraph on the bottom of the VOG suffices. That's all that's requested. It's the official translation. When you received it back, they knew where it was for, hence the translation on the bottom of the page....the international version. Thousands of people have sent this before you with positive results....

Henriette
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top