Police Clearance Certificate Formalities in the UK
Greetings,
I am now in possession of a working visa for Qatar. I am currently collating all the other paperwork before I finally resign my current position and jump on the plane.
I have applied for my police clearance certificate via the local nick and have been given a date of mid January for when this will arrive from Scotland Yard.
My question is that my employer states that:
"Police Clearance Certificate, which should be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and thereafter by Qatar Embassy/Consulate in your home country."
Specifically with reference to the UK: Is it necessary to get the certificate attested by the foreign office before I leave and also be the Qatari embassy in London before I get on the plane? What are the implications for applying for my Residence Permit if I only have the police certificate?
On searching, i cannot find specific guidance on this or other sites.
Thanks,
hcitguy
is to contact your employer in Qatar and ask.
Thank you all for the detailed and very helpful replies.
I had to do this myself in the UK; it is a time consuming process....
Basically the steps are:
1. Apply for police clearance certificate from local police station. (takes around 3-6 weeks...)
2. Go to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office legalisation office (located near trafalgar sq. in London - search the FCO website to get location and opening hours + be warned it gets busy). It gets stamped with a seal.
3. Take the form to the Qatar Embassy in London. (Takes about a week). I believe you can get this done in Qatar at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs but you 100% need it stamped by the FCO in London before this... Suggest you get it done in London before you leave.
You will need to have done this before you will be granted your Residancy Visa in Qatar which you need before you can do most things... In other words it is a requirement (along with passing your medical, doing fingerprinting etc.) and not having it done will prevent you getting your residancy visa until you have obtained it - you will still be able to enter the country on a business visa however in the first place but you need the residancy visa for you to officially become an employee of the company.
Best of luck and welcome to Qatar in advance!
as far as we remember ... my husband only get the police clearance from the local police office then DHL it to Qatar.
as swissmiss said ... you will have to clarify with your employer.
I came from the UK via South Africa and had police clearances from both countries as I am a teacher. No-one ever asked to see the certificates here... My company did all the applying for the residence permits - I don't think you will have to apply for it yourself.
I don't know if this helps at all - but maybe you should get some more clearance from your new employers.