New Indian Police Certificate IV Policies

ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING NEW INDIAN POLICE CERTIFICATE IMMIGRANT VISA POLICIES FOR POSTS IN INDIA AS OF February 1, 2002
by Kathleen Campbell Walker, chair AILA/VO Liaison Committee

The Visa Office has updated 9 FAM App. C on the Department of State Intranet site. The new policy is official and reads as follows:

POLICE RECORD
All Indian IV applicants aged 16 and over, residing in India, should obtain police certificates from the local Passport Office. Applicants whose Indian passport was issued within the past six months may present just the Passport Office Police Certificate, and need not obtain additional police clearances. Applicants over age 16, whose passports were issued more than six months previous to visa application, must also obtain a police clearance from the
District Police Office serving the applicant's place of residence.
Indian passport holders applying for visas outside India should obtain a statement from their local embassy or consulate confirming they have no criminal record. Non-Indian IV applicants residing in India should obtain police certificates from the District Police Station serving their area of residence. Indian police certificates are not available for foreign (non-Indian) applicants applying outside India.

John Nay, the supervisory Consul General in New Delhi, has stated that all Indian posts (except Calcutta, which only deals with orphans) are changing to the new policy effective February 1. Each post will update its own web site, and they are all including new instructions in their appointment letters. They are still working out some implementation details, so they ask for your patience and understanding, but desire to assure applicants that they will not be "unfairly wiped out on this."