Expect delays for police clearance certificates as CRC in Pretoria closes for 10 days

Maintenance at CRC in Pretoria leads to a backlog and delays for police clearance certificates

Many South Africans that urgently need to apply for their Police Clearance Certificates might be disgruntled to find out about the planned closure of the Criminal Records Centre in Pretoria in August. The CRC recently released a statement confirming that it will be closed for maintenance between 10 and 20 August, which will cause delays for police clearance certificates.

The CRC Office in Pretoria will, however, be open for collections of applications that have already been processed, and they will accept submissions of new applications. But since all systems will be offline for the period, no new applications will be processed during this time.  A backlog in the issuing of police clearance certificates is nothing new. Yet it causes massive frustration every time it occurs.

How long will my police clearance application be delayed for?

The expected delays are at least ten days, if not longer, should the backlog caused by the CRC’s closure be severe. Please keep in mind that this applies to ALL police clearance certificates. The only authority that issues the PCCs from South Africa is the Criminal Records Centre in Pretoria.

It must be understood that the problem is not due to slow delivery on Apostil.co.za’s account. We have been advised that the CRC offices will be reopening on the 21^st of August. Once the CRC reopens, applications will be processed, but there might be a backlog in the issuing process. However, this puts a massive strain on the already backlogged police clearance certificate issuing process.