# Character Requirement for 189 Skilled independent



## Coffee (Feb 18, 2013)

Can I apply for 189 without having the police check from my own country (Malaysia)? 

I have lived in Australia for 5 years. I am going to apply for 189 skilled independent soon. However, I have not got my certificate of good conduct (police check) from Malaysia yet. 

Can I apply for 189 without that? Is it necessary to have the certificate of good conduct before I apply? Do you know someone that successfully got their PR without that?

Thank you in advance.


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

You'll need a police clearance certificate from all countries you've lived in for 12 months or more during the last 10 years. In the character part of the immi.gov.au website there is a link to a guide that tells you how to get police clearance certificates for each country, and which certificate from each country is the one that DIAC will require - best to check that carefully.

Best,

Mark Northam


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## Tariq.guroo (Dec 2, 2012)

You can apply for the visa without the Character Certificate but you would need to provide the same before the visa is granted to you. You will not be asked for the same till a later stage and you can take your time in getting the same. But once your visa processing is completed, you will be asked to provide the Medical Certificate and Character certificate and as Mark already mentioned, you will be required to provide character certificates from all the countries where you have lived for 12 months or more in the last 10 years.

Thanks,
Tariq


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## Tariq.guroo (Dec 2, 2012)

To add here, you do not need to provide the same at the time of applying if you are applying outside australia, however, if you are applying within australia then you need to provide them at the time of applying.


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Good points - the problem that can come up is if you wait to apply for the police certificates until after you've lodged the visa and wait for DIAC to ask for them, you are usually given 28 days to provide these - for some countries, it is impossible to get these within that timeframe, which means you have to ask that your application processing be put on hold until you get the police certificates, which can delay things considerably.

Another issue is if you have any prior offences, etc that you're not sure whether will show up or not on the police certificate - in this case, always better to get the certificate first so you can address any of those issues on the visa application forms and your answers on the forms about character, etc will match the police report.

Best,

Mark Northam


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## Tariq.guroo (Dec 2, 2012)

Mr Mark, I have a question here.
How old can be the PCC? I mean there is a date on the PCC as when it was issued. How recent it should be when it is submitted to DIAC. I could not find anything relevant on this on the website.


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi Tariq -

A PCC is generally valid for 1 year from the date of issue unless you've been back to the country for 6 months or more since it was issued, which can in some cases trigger the need for an updated one.

Best,

Mark Northam


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## miassus (Oct 26, 2013)

*Austrlian police check*



Tariq.guroo said:


> To add here, you do not need to provide the same at the time of applying if you are applying outside australia, however, if you are applying within australia then you need to provide them at the time of applying.


Hi, 
there is a question once you are lodging online that asks if you have applied for Australian police check in the last 12 months
i answered that "no" and I lodged my application online

is this a matter that i have lodged onshore before getting Australian security check?


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi Miassus -

Should not be a problem - the police checks are a requirement that must be met at the time of decision, and are not required at application.

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam


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## miassus (Oct 26, 2013)

MarkNortham said:


> Hi Miassus -
> 
> Should not be a problem - the police checks are a requirement that must be met at the time of decision, and are not required at application.
> 
> ...


Thanks Mark for the reply,
The issue is that one of my friends was rejected for after graduate temporary visa just for the reason that he has not applied for australian police check before lodgement, actually, he did it after lodgement.


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi Miasses -

Thanks - I was being specific to the subclass 189 visa (the topic of this thread) - certain other visas including the subclass 485 skilled graduate visa have a time-of-application requirement that you must have applied for an AFP certificate and show evidence of that at application.

That's why for whatever visa you apply for, it's critical that you read all of the requirements listed in Schedules 1 and 2 from the Migration Regulations 1994 for that class (Schedule 1) and subclass (Schedule 2) of visa. You cannot depend on the DIBP website for that information because it may be incomplete, out of date or inaccurate, and DIBP makes no guarantees about the accuracy of their data online or provided by phone. 

Best,

Mark Northam


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## miassus (Oct 26, 2013)

MarkNortham said:


> Hi Miasses -
> 
> Thanks - I was being specific to the subclass 189 visa (the topic of this thread) - certain other visas including the subclass 485 skilled graduate visa have a time-of-application requirement that you must have applied for an AFP certificate and show evidence of that at application.
> 
> ...


Thanks Mark for the reference, 
I read the schedules 2 of volumes 3 and 4 to see the differences about the requirements for visas 189 and 485. based on what it's said in 485.213, AFP must be done before lodgement while in 189 conditions to be met at lodgement are all about degrees assessment and points acquired?

so, as you said, i guess there shouldnt be worry about AFP check before lodgement for 189 applicants


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Correct. That being said, the sooner you can get the police report in, the more it may help speed processing as they won't be waiting for that.

Best,

Mark Northam


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## kashgenius (Jun 18, 2014)

With reference to the 189 subclass, my Indian PCC might take time to arrive and I am afraid my 60 day limit might be up before it arrives. I know the posts here have mentioned that it is ok to apply for the visa before you have the PCC, but I wanted to be sure that nothing has changed since the replies posted in 2013. Thanks for the help.


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi Kashgenius -

For 189 visa it's OK to lodge the application and then submit the police clearance certificates as soon as you have them after lodgement. If they need them before you provide them, they will generally send a letter, but I wouldn't wait for the letter.

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam


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## lagitana06 (Jul 2, 2014)

Hi,

The character requirement quotes as: " You must provide a police clearance certificate from each country where you have lived for a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years. These 12 months are calculated cumulatively, not consecutively.

I wonder if age is still a concept here...for example if you did leave over 10 years ago but were still over 18 at the time!


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi Lagitana06 -

Age is a factor - technically it's "lived for 12 months or more since age 16".

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam



lagitana06 said:


> Hi,
> 
> The character requirement quotes as: " You must provide a police clearance certificate from each country where you have lived for a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years. These 12 months are calculated cumulatively, not consecutively.
> 
> I wonder if age is still a concept here...for example if you did leave over 10 years ago but were still over 18 at the time!


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## junzar (Sep 12, 2014)

*Uae pcc req or not req*



MarkNortham said:


> Hi Tariq -
> 
> A PCC is generally valid for 1 year from the date of issue unless you've been back to the country for 6 months or more since it was issued, which can in some cases trigger the need for an updated one.
> 
> ...


hi mark,

I had a confusion regarding Dubai PCC. i had been in dubai for 10 months 
and another three month I had worked for the same company but in india.
now what i am worried about is in reference letter it shows 11 month of work for UAE Company.

i had in and out entry which justify that i was in UAE only for a period of 10 month. how do I explain this in my visa appliation in order to avoid UAE PCC

AWAITING YOUR VALUABLE FEEDBACK


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## junzar (Sep 12, 2014)

junzar said:


> hi mark,
> 
> I had a confusion regarding Dubai PCC. i had been in dubai for 10 months
> and another three month I had worked for the same company but in india.
> ...


I had a confusion regarding Dubai PCC. i had been in dubai for 10 months 
and another three month I had worked for the same company but in india.
now what i am worried about is in reference letter it shows 13 month of work for UAE Company.

i had in and out entry which justify that i was in UAE only for a period of 10 month. how do I explain this in my visa appliation in order to avoid UAE PCC

AWAITING YOUR VALUABLE FEEDBACK[/QUOTE]


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## junzar (Sep 12, 2014)

MarkNortham said:


> Hi Lagitana06 -
> 
> Age is a factor - technically it's "lived for 12 months or more since age 16".
> 
> ...


I had a confusion regarding Dubai PCC. i had been in dubai for 10 months 
and another three month I had worked for the same company but in india.
now what i am worried about is in reference letter it shows 13 month of work for UAE Company.

i had in and out entry which justify that i was in UAE only for a period of 10 month. how do I explain this in my visa appliation in order to avoid UAE PCC

AWAITING YOUR VALUABLE FEEDBACK[/QUOTE]


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi Junzar -

Thanks for the question - the question is whether you lived in the country for 12 months or more re: PCC. So if you were living in the country, but traveled temporarily out of the country, DIBP may still see you as living in that country if you maintained a residence there and kept your living things there. To avoid issues, I'd get another letter from the company that confirms you were living in the country for 10 months and worked for the India branch for 3 months - that might solve things.

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam



junzar said:


> I had a confusion regarding Dubai PCC. i had been in dubai for 10 months
> and another three month I had worked for the same company but in india.
> now what i am worried about is in reference letter it shows 13 month of work for UAE Company.
> 
> ...


[/QUOTE]


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## Paul-Mae (May 14, 2015)

UAE seems to come up in this thread a bit, mind if I ask if anyone on here has applied for a UAE, Dubai police clearance from within AU? 

If so, how did you go about it? The info on the immi site says to go to the local police to get "original fingerprints ‘Using Print Matic Inkpad’ from local police in Australia or New Zealand" I tried this today, however I was advised by the counter officer there that they do not provide such a service!


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## uae2oz (Apr 29, 2015)

Paul-Mae said:


> UAE seems to come up in this thread a bit, mind if I ask if anyone on here has applied for a UAE, Dubai police clearance from within AU?
> 
> If so, how did you go about it? The info on the immi site says to go to the local police to get "original fingerprints 'Using Print Matic Inkpad' from local police in Australia or New Zealand" I tried this today, however I was advised by the counter officer there that they do not provide such a service!


Hi,
Apply it online.

http://www.dubaipolice.gov.ae/dp/jsps/content/flat_content.do?contentCode=90147


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## Paul-Mae (May 14, 2015)

Hi uae2oz,

I tried that link, didnt work even when I translated it to English. 

Still confused... can anyone else provide step by step instructions of how to go thru this?


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