How to obtain an urgent police clearance certificate from SAPS

Getting an urgent police clearance certificate (PCC) can often be a more complicated process than many South Africans imagine. Seeing that SAPS have been experiencing major backlogs in the issuing of PCCs, many South Africans are left wondering how long it will take to obtain a police clearance certificate if they need one in a rush.

In this post, we will take a look at how South Africans can apply for an urgent police clearance.

Understanding a South African Police Clearance Certificate

A police clearance certificate from South Africa is available to anyone, whether they have been in the country or not. It simply involves a database check by using names (and other details) and fingerprints to see whether these details correlate with anyone on the South African criminal records database. Therefore, anyone, from any country, with any details can apply for and obtain a clear South African police clearance if not found on this database.

The SAPS Criminal Record Centre (CRC), located in Pretoria, is where police clearance certificates are processed. Apostil.co.za deals directly with the SAPS CRC and thus cuts out any intermediaries and applies for and collects documents directly from the source. This makes applications through our service for South African police clearances much faster and in fact more reliable.

How to apply for an urgent Police Clearance Certificate from South Africa

Anyone that wants to apply for an urgent SAPS Police Clearance needs to submit a completed application form as well as proof of their identity (a certified copy of your South African ID document or passport) along with a complete set of fingerprints.

A police officer or SAPS employee will assist you in taking your fingerprints if you apply at your local police station. But you can actually have your fingerprints taken anywhere and your form stamped by any lawyer, commissioner of oaths, and sometimes even a company or school representative. They must attest that the fingerprints on the form are in fact yours.

Should you wish to arrange an urgent police clearance certificate for South Africa through us, you can have your fingerprints done at your nearest police station, fingerprinting company, etc. and after this, we will handle your documents directly with the Pretoria Criminal Records Centre (CRC). You may also choose to have your document/s returned by in-person collection or via local or international courier.

How long does it take to obtain an urgent Police Clearance Certificate from SAPS?

Applying in person may see your clearance certificate take up to 3 months if you apply from within SA. It can take anywhere between 3 and 6 months to get processed if you apply from abroad. According to the Criminal Records Centre (CRC), their processing times vary from the day on which the application was submitted, which is very confusing.

Here at Apostil.co.za, we can help you obtain your urgent police clearance certificate in between 5 and 7 working days. If you are lucky, that timeframe can be reduced even more to just three working days. Apostil.co.za’s record for the fastest issuing of a clearance certificate is under 24 hours! We always quote a turnaround time estimated on actual completed instructions.

In special cases, it may be possible to further speed up obtaining a PCC from South Africa (extreme urgent police clearance South Africa). Conversely, please note that delays are possible due to SAPS experiencing loadshedding, employee COVID cases, etc. or if someone has a criminal record (this increases timing by up to a month). Errors on the certificate (name misspellings, etc.) can also be corrected faster through our service than by doing it alone.

Wrapping up: The quickest way to obtain South African Police Clearance Certificates

An expedited Police Clearance for South Africa is a document we can help you obtain faster and more securely than if you were to try and do it on your own, from within South Africa or from abroad. Simply fill in one of our inquiry forms, and we will get back to you very quickly to start the process.

Apostil.co.za can assist you in getting your South African Police Clearance (PCC) in between 5 and 7 working days of applying (excluding courier time). We can also have it apostilled quickly.