Recently, many friends have asked: How to obtain a certificate of no criminal record in the United States? Below, the immigration editor from WorldWay Immigration will explain how to obtain a certificate of no criminal record in the United States and the special points to pay attention to regarding consular authentication.
1. Which department issues the certificate of no criminal record
In the United States, a certificate of no criminal record is generally called a "certificate of lack of a criminal record." A Criminal Record Check is when the relevant department searches the appropriate database to issue you a certificate stating that you have no criminal record.
In the United States, there are mainly two departments that issue certificates of no criminal record:
The local police department, county sheriff's office, or state police and justice department;
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The former searches the databases of the local city, county, and state, while the latter searches the FBI's database (only federal crimes will have records).
2. What type of certificate of no criminal record do I need, or do I need both?
This question is difficult to answer; the answer actually depends on how you will use it in China. If it is for a general job application and the position is not in a sensitive department, a certificate issued by the local police department may suffice. If the position is sensitive, both may be required.
Additionally, if you have lived in multiple places, you may need certificates from the police departments of those locations.
Therefore, we recommend that you first communicate with the relevant departments in China to see what documents meet their requirements.
3. How to obtain a certificate of no criminal record? How to authenticate it?
To obtain a certificate of no criminal record from the local police department or county sheriff's office
Contact the local police department or county sheriff's office by phone and ask them to search the local and state databases to issue you a certificate of no criminal record (criminal record check). Inform them that the final document will be used in China.
Note: Some states manage certificates of no criminal record at the state level, and you need to process it through the relevant state department, such as in Florida and Virginia.
Obtain state secretary authentication.
For states under the jurisdiction of the DC embassy: U.S. Department of State authentication (other consulate jurisdiction states do not require this step).
According to consulate jurisdiction, obtain authentication from the Chinese consulate in the United States.
If you need to obtain a certificate of no criminal record from the Houston consulate jurisdiction (AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, OK, TX) or the DC embassy jurisdiction (DC, DE, ID, KY, MD, MT, NC, ND, NE, SC, SD, TN, UT, VA, WV, WY), our agency can assist with steps 2-4. If you are in China, you can ask the local police department or county sheriff's office to send the documents directly to our agency. Please refer to the authentication homepage and "Agency for Authentication of Documents such as Birth Certificates Currently Residing in China."
Certificate of no criminal record issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The certificate of no criminal record issued by the FBI needs to be obtained from the FBI. Its authentication process is through the U.S. Department of State (US Secretary of State Authentication Office), and then directly to the Chinese embassy in DC. Since March 2013, our agency can assist with these two authentication steps.
According to FBI regulations, the first step (obtaining a certificate of no criminal record from the FBI) can only be done by you; no other individuals or organizations (companies) can assist you.