getting china police record... while outside of china

[etcetera24]

First off, sorry Roddy if this is in the wrong section!

I spent one year in Beijing on an X-visa studying at BLCU from 05-06. I'm currently getting security clearance for a job which asks for a "certificate of good conduct" ie. proof of a clean police record from China.

The process typically involves running from office to office getting the necessary letters and chops from the local PSB to notary office etc.

Problem 1: I'm in Toronto with no plans to return to Beijing anytime soon. The Chinese Consulate here in Toronto told me to contact BLCU to obtain a letter verifying a clean record and send said letter to Canada.

Problem 2: My mandarin isn't up to the level needed to explain my circumstances and make this request over a long-distance phone call. I also do not know anyone currently in Beijing who can make this request on my behalf.

Also, Problem 3: My spidey-sense about Chinese bureaucracy (the govt and BLCU!) tells me this process is going to be a nightmare... I'm not sure it's even a feasible process.

Does anyone have experience and/ or advice obtaining their Chinese police record while outside of China?

!

[lilongyue]

May I ask what kind of job you are applying for back in Canada? Sounds like a government one. I've been considering applying for a government position back in the U.S. when I finish my studies. Mandarin is listed as a "critical needs" language by the U.S. government. The also require extensive background checks and security clearances. Hadn't thought that I would need to provide a record of good conduct, but it wouldn't surprise me if I did, so your post piqued my interest.

[etcetera24]

Yes it's a government job that involves some security/ intelligence work. I need to obtain "enhanced reliability" status. Because I spent over 6 months in China, I need to prove I have a clean Chinese police record.

Wish I knew earlier! I might have tried to get a copy of my record while I was still in Beijing.

Update: I have a friend in Ottawa who will call BLCU on my behalf. Hopefully this will get me somewhere!

[theresia]

When I read your message, I know you can help me out of this problem. I have exactly the same problem as yours (problem 1, 2 and 3). It is really a nightmare what I've been through to get that police certificate. But in my case, now I already got letter from BLCU (off course with my friends help). Could you help me what should I do after this? Can I use it as police certificate and legalize it? Please help, I really appreciate it.

[fanglu]

Revival of an old thread...

 

My wife (Thai) is applying for Australian residency, and needs to provide a Chinese police certificate (as she lived in China for more than 12 months) saying she didn't commit any crimes while there. The only problem is, we're not in China and haven't been there for many years. (Actually there is another problem, she also doesn't have her old passport which had Chinese visas etc in it anymore, which is apparently needed).

 

Does anyone have any experience using an agency to apply for one of these? The only agency I can find which lists a price (http://www.visainchina.com/nocriminal.htm?gclid=CKie-LXOzr8CFREHvAodXrsALw) wants 3000rmb, which seems a little excessive.

 

Alternatively, if anyone has any ideas about how to get one when not in China without using an agency, I'm all ears.

[roddy]

My first thought was that there must be plenty of Chinese people who need to do this, and a bit of a search turned up this (.doc) example of how to entrust someone in China to do it for you. So if you have a friend or relative who can do this, that might be a start.

 

I might be inclined to contact some Beijing (or wherever) immigration lawyers and agencies. Seems like the kind of thing they might do for hopefully less than 3000Y.

 

The term you want to be searching for is 无犯罪记录证明. 

[fanglu]

Yes, there are lots of Chinese people who do it, and they get their parents or whoever to do it for them - its quite straightforward. The problem for us is that a) we don't know anyone in China who we could ask to do it, and b) I suspect getting one for foreigners is not as straight-forward as it is for Chinese people (who just go to the PSB nearest their hukou address), particularly if, like us, you'd moved around a bit, so I don't know if I'd be willing to ask someone to do it for us, even if I knew someone who could, as it might be asking quite a lot.

 

But the suggestion of visa agents is good, and a few of them specifically advertise this service. I'll email and ask for quotes.

[Matty]

Well,

My experience from a few years ago is: you can't get one from the entry/exit bureau.

My experience from a couple of weeks ago is that you can't get one from the 派出所, only Chinese nationals can. (Had the PSB fight with another government department who "required it" from them over that - the 派出所 won)

 

 

I did find something from someone else who managed to get one:

 

It is called a certificate of no criminal convictions and it was very easy to obtain in my case. 

 

Simply get a letter stating you have no record/have good conduct from your employer/school or local police district and then bring it to the notary office, along with your passport and visa and work permit/school id and you'll fill out some forms, pay 150 rmb and that's it. you can come back in a week to claim it, and its an official looking booklet. Please specify that you want it in English.

 

You do not need to speak chinese. Your letter should say something like:

 

This is to certify that so and so has been employed in this company (name of company) from ___ till ____. During the time of his/her employment, so and so has shown exemplary behavior and conduct and our company can attest to his/her good moral character. Please feel free to contact us should you have any concerns. 

 

If you have a letter like this, no need to go to police station. Also, for the students, you can get a form like this from the foreign students office. If you have no school or employee, you must go to the police station to get the form from them. 

 

Hope that helps!

 

 

I called the Shanghai Notary Public Office

Shanghai Notary Public Office

Tel: (021) 6218 0339 

Address: 660 Fengyang Rd (off Shimen No. 2 Rd, near Nanjing Rd)

Website: www.sh-notary.com 

E-mail: info@sh-notary.com

 

No passport/visa may be a problem, but if there's an old photocopy/scan of the documents it might help.

[imron]

I got one of them before leaving China several years back and recall it was also relatively expensive.

[icebear]

I had to get one for a student visa several years ago. In the end concluded that the local 派出所 was the best bet, however they refused to issue anything as they weren't sure how to proceed with a foreigners documents. I had a friend and a former boss jump through hoops only to find out it wasn't possible, even in Beijing, at least at that time.

 

In the end my former boss wrote me a letter stamped with the company chop that attested that I had no legal difficulties while residing in China on my consecutive work permits (mm.yy - mm.yy), which was evident as they had not been canceled in my passport (he wrote this, too). That document was accepted...

[fanglu]

I asked a few agencies, who gave me quotes of between 1500 and 2500rmb (and all required photocopies of the passport and visas, which she doesn't have). I think we'll stick with the original plan of trying to convince the Australian authorities that it's impossible.

(null)

[fanglu]

So if anyone's interested, the Australian embassy in Beijing said we need to try harder to get the 无犯罪记录证明 before they'll consider granting an exemption from the requirement to provide one.

 

So, today I called BLCU (where my wife had studied), who told me I should talk to the local police station. The local police station told me they only provide the certificates for Chinese citizens with Beijing hukous and that I should try the Entry and Exit Administration of the PSB. When I eventually got through to them, they told me that they don't provide those certificates, and don't have any suggestion as to who does（“好像是个专门的机构”）. The officer said I should 自己查一下, whatever that means.

 

A productive day (calling each body involved several calls before I got through, and then calling different people within the organisation and explaining the story over and over again, so it took a fair while). Now to just repeat with the other places she lived (Shantou and Yantai).

[Matty]

Try 北京公证处, I have a feeling they're who you need, maybe, I could be totally wrong.

http://www.baidu.com/s?wd=北京公证处

There's a few in different locations, the phone numbers and address' can be found in the link above.

[fanglu]

Hmm, I didn't actually try ringing them. Everything I found online says you get the police to make the certificate, then take it to the 公证处 for authentication, but it might be worth a shot. Thanks.

[Matty]

In that case, perhaps something from the school saying you've done nothing wrong there would be enough? I'm just working with bits and pieces I've heard, so not a whole lot of hard facts.

If you were an employee you may be able to get it from the 学校保安 office (school security office?), that's where I got my last one from. It's a lot easier to get a stamp from them than the international office was in that university.

A phone call should clear things up either way.

[Mr John]

Hi all,

 

I'm applying to register as a teacher in Australia and part of the process involves getting a criminal record check for the two years that I lived in China.

 

Having read over this thread, my options appear to be:

 

Option 1: Fly back to China and do it all in person

Option 2: Pay a hefty sum to a third party

Option 3: Get my two previous employers to write a letter of the kind recommended earlier in this thread.

Option 4: Try and get a Chinese friend still living there to do it on my behalf

 

Option 3 would be preferable, but the problem is that the first school I worked for was sold and renamed after I left, so getting a letter from them is a no go.

Option 4 is a possibility, but I would only use it as a last resort as the process is likely to be a pain.

 

If anyone can think of any other possibilities that I may have overlooked or just has some general advice it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers.