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Indian police clearance certificate

You can get an Indian PCC either from an Indian mission abroad or from a passport office or district police station in India, and Canadian immigration accepts both. What gets rejected is the wrong kind of document: a character certificate, or a certificate limited to one district where a national one was required.

The six month rule people worry about is a submission window set by the country asking for it, not an expiry date on the certificate.

The confusion worth clearing up first

Most bad advice in this area comes from treating every police document as the same thing. They are not, and the one you need depends on which country’s record is being checked.

DocumentCoversIssued by
Indian PCCYour Indian recordIndian mission abroad, or a passport office or district police in India
FBI identity history summaryYour US recordThe FBI
UAE good conduct certificateYour UAE recordDubai Police, Abu Dhabi Police or the Ministry of Interior
Character certificateNothing useful for immigrationVarious. Commonly rejected

If you have lived in more than one country for a meaningful stretch, you generally need one from each, and they arrive on completely different timetables.

What we charge to prepare it

Our fee for this$59flat
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One flat fee, whichever of the three you need.

  • We confirm which certificate your case officer needs
  • The application prepared for your case
  • Apostille route explained and planned
  • Documents checked before you post them

Government and application-centre fees are separate and paid by you directly. See all prices.

Where the timeline goes wrong

The certificate itself is quick. What is not quick is the police verification it can trigger at your Indian address, which runs at the pace of a local station and cannot be chased from abroad in any useful way.

If nobody lives at your Indian address. There is no published rule covering this, and it is the most common reason a certificate stalls. Tell us at the start so it can be planned for rather than discovered halfway through.

Apostille

If the certificate is going to a foreign authority, it usually needs an MEA apostille. The sticker costs about 50 rupees and takes five to seven working days through one of sixteen regional authentication centres. Countries that are not party to the Hague convention, the UAE among them, need full legalisation instead, which is a longer chain.

If you also need a passport renewed in the same window, read the passport page first, because the order affects how long the whole thing takes.

Where these numbers come from

We re-check every fee and rule on this page monthly. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it the same day.

Get it done quicklyPrepared the same day you send it.

Police clearance certificates, answered

Does IRCC accept a PCC issued by an Indian consulate abroad?
Yes. Canada states directly that you can apply at your local district police station, a passport office, an Indian embassy or consulate, or a BLS International centre. The disqualifiers are about the document itself, not who issued it: character certificates are rejected, and so are certificates limited to one district when a national one is required.
Is an Indian PCC valid for six months?
The six month figure is a submission window set by the destination country, not an expiry stamped on the certificate. Canada and New Zealand both work this way. It means submit it within six months of issue, not that it stops being true.
Will police verification be done in India?
It can be. A PCC can trigger a check at your Indian address through the local police, which is where timelines become unpredictable, particularly if nobody lives there now.
Do I need an apostille on my PCC?
Often, depending on who is asking for it. The MEA apostille sticker costs about 50 rupees and takes five to seven working days through one of sixteen regional authentication centres.
I lived in the UAE as well. Do I need two certificates?
Almost certainly yes, and they come from unrelated authorities. The Indian PCC covers your Indian record. A UAE good conduct certificate from the police there covers your UAE record. They are not substitutes for each other.
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