Police Checks - Information

[MajarTheLion 846]

I have been teaching in Thailand for many years, was made redundant last year and I am soon going to Suwannakhet, Laos to apply for a non-b visa for a university teaching job I was recently hired for.The university assured me that they have provided me with all the necessary documents for the visa but the university said nothing about a police clearance certificate and they have many foreign teachers working at the university. Is the police clearance certificate really required? The information required for the police clearance certificate all looks rather tedious and complicated and very time consuming.

I don't know about other states, but in Texas you can run a background check on yourself with a credit card for a few dollars and get it back instantly.

https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/dpswebsite/criminalhistory/

[simon43 7,853]

I have a police check from the Thai police in Bangkok, but it was provided perhaps 5 years ago. I understand that some embassies/consulates now require a police check that is not older than 1 year.

Is it still necessary to obtain this in Bangkok? Or is there now a procedure to obtain it in Phuket? Thanks.

[Scott 14,260]

I can't answer you directly about Phuket, but I assist with schools in several provinces. You can go to the police in your locality and do the paperwork, they will send it on to BKK for processing. This is not always the case, as one province told applicants they had to go to BKK, but the rest have been helpful.

The biggest problem is that it takes longer, sometimes 3 weeks to 1 month to get the clearance.

Hopefully, someone from Phuket will be along and can clarify the issue as it relates to you.

[nellyp 325]

Does anybody know the situation for a South African applying for a Non b?

 

Do they need police checks? A friend from S>A. needs to apply for a Non B, but her police check was done 4 months ago and she is worrying that it will not be valid

 

[Scott 14,260]

If your friend is in Thailand and the police clearance was done in Thailand, it might be a problem.   We had recently employed a teacher who came from another school.   The police clearance was well under 1 year, but immigration insisted that she get a new one.   The school has to write a letter requesting the police clearance.

 

So, in short, I am not sure and it probably depends on where your friend got the police clearance and if it has been used for employment previously.  

[thaijohn1947 3]

Link for UK/Scotland does NOT work...sorry

[Ruffian Dick 568]

The link for the US of A is dead; is this the replacement?

https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks

Thnx.

[Scott 14,260]

Thanks for posting the new link.   I will try to check it when time permits.

[simon43 7,853]

I previously had a police check in Thailand many years ago.  But I typically teach outside Thailand (in Myanmar).  

 

Myanmar doesn't yet have a background check process for teachers (I am aware that they do criminal/political background checks on foreigners, but that's for their own use, and not a process that I can apply for).

 

I don't have plans to teach again in Thailand, but is it possible to 'update' my old background check certificate, so that I can provide a recent background check to a new employer, in the absence of one from the Myanmar authorities? (Yes, I know that a background check should reflect a check on one's recent past. But I'm sure many potential employees will not consider an applicant who states that background checks are not issued in his/her current country of employment).

 

Can I do this when I'm not teaching in Thailand?

Since the Thai police already have my fingerprints, is the 'update' process more speedy in any way?

 

Update: I do have a CRB from the UK, (although I was never a teacher in the UK). But that CRB is also from a few years ago.

 

Edited September 9, 2017 by simon43

[Scott 14,260]

Perhaps others may have more information, but in the past the actual request had to come from the potential employer (the school).   Not too long ago, we had an applicant who went to get a police check and was refused without a letter from the school.   In his case, he had never obtained one previously.  

 

So, I don't think you would be able to get one, at least not easily and without some hassle unless having a previous one can be updated without the request from the school.  

[John V 39]

                                                                                                         My paperwork journey

When I first came to Thailand a decade ago, the last thought on my already occupied and overloaded mind was a CRB (DBS) check. At my second job interview in Thailand, the employer asked for police check certificate from my home country, to which I replied, ‘You give me 100k฿ and I’ll go back to the UK, live there for several weeks and get the piece of paper. Next year, when you or someone else tells me it’s out of date, I get another 100k and we’ll repeat the process, but the cost is not coming out of my salary!’

Nevertheless, my employer insisted he see something and so I went to a UK Embassy in Thailand and they wrote me a letter stating ‘not known’, presumably after doing some checks themselves, for I think about 2000฿ at the time.

I contacted the UK police and the answer I got then was to apply you have to be resident at a UK address, or your employer has to apply from the UK. I’m a UK citizen and we probably have the strictest privacy laws in Europe, whereas most Thai employers believe that every country is the same as America and checks can be done online. The same with ‘verified’ university degrees; I have the originals here with me and even photographs of my receiving them, together with the original Master’s thesis. All this was good enough even for the PSB in China and checks don’t get any more strict than that! I’ve used that Embassy statement ever since and as there is no reason for me to return to the UK (as my passport shows), it's never out-of-date.

Perhaps things have changed now? Whilst I understand and sympathise with employers, given the amount of misfits and chancers that turn up on Thai shores, I’m not prepared to fund my employment through my own salary.     

[Allarox 0]

I am still confused. First time I got my NON B in 2015 without police record. Now I'm planning to change my job, do I need  police record from my country or Thailand?

[Preacher 159]

31 minutes ago, Allarox said:

I am still confused. First time I got my NON B in 2015 without police record. Now I'm planning to change my job, do I need  police record from my country or Thailand?

It depends on:

- does the new employer wants to see a police record check?

- do you need to apply for a new visa abroad or will you get a new contract starting when the old contract fishes

- where will you be applying for a new visa

 

Normally a police record check from Thailand will be enough. You can have your finger prints taken at the police station and they will send it to BKK for a check. Costs 100 baht and normally takes about two weeks.

 

If applying for a non-B visa in Savanakhet I believe no police record check is asked for.

[BurgerGung 28]

For GERMANY it gets tricky for those residing in Thailand:

 

The Justice minister in Bonn wants 12 €. The tricky part is getting the verification of one's signature.

 

Local law firm? Forget it!

 

A trip to the embassy?

 

All to get "no records" - which makes it utterly unimportant from a data protection point of view. They could run hourly radio ads about "BurgerGung" not having a criminal past.

 

Wish they would charge a few bucks more, then provide FREE disclosure to ex convicts. Heck, even throw in a dedicated FREE hotline manned by lawyers who will guide them... Doubt that more than 2% of Krauts have any criminal past. (The 7% foreigners used to account for 50% of crime a few decades ago, before Merkel turned on the magnet, allowing folks without papers to enter the welfare system. In breach of the German constitution, which bans asylum for anyone coming from an EU country. Yeah, some had to "flee" Austria...")

 

Seriously, when in Milton Keynes, I had to fly over to apply in person. Hotel at Stansted, then the cheap Ryanair flight was delayed and the taxi was about 50 € from the airport.

 

Then I needed cash. Had to run into the city where a local government savings bank charged me a forex fee of 10 € as I had no account with them.

 

Of course, I had made the payment by a free bank transfer, but they "couldn't find" that payment...

 

 

[evadgib 8,388]

Seen today from HMG:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-we-do-at-the-dbs-a-video-feature

Happy for this to be moved if its in the wrong place.