London Embassy on Police Certificates
Richard S. Goldstein
Plaza 57
145 West 57th Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10019
Dear Richard,
As you know, we have investigated and determined that UK police certificates are no longer considered “unavailable.” I am writing in regard to your request that we advise you of the date on which the new requirement for United Kingdom police certificates will be in effect for immigrant visa applicants who have resided in the United Kingdom for more than six months.
After consultation with the National Visa Center, I can confirm that the NVC is advising applicants of the new requirement in all Packet 3s the center sends out after October 1, 1996. As you know, the NVC sends Packet 3s well before applicants will be documentarily qualified and scheduled for an interview. The immigrant visa unit here will not require UK police certificates from anyone whose Packet 3 is sent prior to October 1, unless, or course, a consular officer determines that a police certificate will be necessary in an individual case after interview. The Packet 3 sending date is part of our electronic visa record for each applicant. I do not know at this time when the update to the FAM appendix B/C/E notes will be published and transmitted.
For your information, an immigrant visa applicant who has resided in the United Kingdom for six months or more since the age of sixteen is required to obtain a statement from the National Identification Service, Subject Access Office, Room 331, New Scotland Yard, Broadway, London SWI OBG. This statement will serve to advise the American Embassy, London, whether or not any criminal conviction is held against him or her. In order to obtain the required statement, one should apply to the local police station, where one will be given the application form(s). When completing the application form, the applicable category is “prosecution/conviction history.” There is a fee of ten pounds sterling. The local police will submit the application to the National Identification Service and the response to the application will be sent directly to the applicant. The National Identification Service does not accept applications from individuals applicants; the request must be made through the local police. Under the legislation, it can take up to 40 days to receive this document. Individuals are legally entitled to gain access to this information about themselves under Section 21 of the Data Protection Act, 1984. Person who are not physically present in the United Kingdom should write to the Data Protection Officer of the police authority where they last resided in the United Kingdom to obtain the appropriate application form.
I would be grateful if you would pass this information to AILA for distribution to members since the UK police certificate has been listed as “unavailable” for many years. Likewise, perhaps, you should advise AILA that we have made a change in our E1/E2 application policy. This is an issue that you and I have discussed previously and we are finally putting it into effect: we will no longer effectively “pre-adjudicate” an application by “registering” a company in advance of a visa application. We have no authority to “register” companies, only to adjudicate visas, therefore, every E1/E2 application package must be accompanied by a visa application form either the investor or an employee of the company which wishes to obtain E1 or E2 status for its personnel. The application must include original completed and signed QF-156 and 156Es, the $20.00 MRV application fees for each applicant and either a passport or a photocopy of the passport of the principal applicant with copies of all visa pages showing travel to and from the United States. The visa issuance fee should not be paid until we advise that the application has been approved. We have effectively instituted this policy already but it is likely that many immigration practitioners are unaware of it.
Thank you for your kind offer to pass this information on to AILA. I’ll look forward to seeing you at the Consul General’s reception on September 19.
Sincerely,James P. Callahan
Visa Branch Chief