We can obtain certificates of good conduct for British nationals who lived abroad from some countries.

If you wish to obtain a certificate of good conduct for time spent in the UK you will need to contact the Criminal Records Bureau

A certificate of good conduct is a police records check.  For example, you may have lived abroad. On your return to the UK, a future employer may need evidence that you have no criminal record: this is what you will need to apply for.

Check list

If you wish to apply for a certificate of good conduct from Spain or Poland, you will need to write a letter which includes:

• Details of your full name
• residential, and if applicable, work addresses. If you weren't working at the time, please state this 
• Dates for your time spent overseas.
• If you are applying for a certificate from Spain, please make it clear that you are applying for a "Certificado de Antecedentes Penales"
• An explanation of why you need the certificate of good conduct now. You will also need to give us the name of the organisation requesting the certificate from you e.g. university, potential employer
• Authorisation for the British Consulate to obtain the certificate on your behalf.
• UK contact details so we can get in touch with you if we need any additional information
• we will not release your personal details to any third parties in the UK; we only use your contact information if we need to request any further information.
  
  Please also provide:
  
• your original full length birth certificate. This is at least A4 sized and shows details of your parents. Copies can be obtained from the General Register Office
• your current British passport
  
• if your name has changed at all between your birth certificate and passport, please provide the relevant document showing all transititions e.g. marriage certificate(s) or change of name deed poll(s)
• a translation of your letter in the relevant language.
• If you were living and working in Mallorca or Menorca, please get in touch with the BMD enquiry line (see contact box) for an additional permission form.
• If you are unable to send us your original passport, we can accept certified copies of the bio-data page. This should be certified by a UK solicitor or a notary public registered with the Law Society.

If you are applying for a certificate of good conduct from Italy, please complete the following form and send in with the UK documents listed above.

'Richiesta Certificata Penale Italiano'

Please send two photocopies of all original documents, two copies of the application form and/or each letter of request and one photocopy of your payment.

You will need to send us two special or recorded delivery envelopes: one to return your original documents to you and one to return your certificate to you.

If you wish to apply for a certificate of good conduct from any other country not listed below or from Spain or Poland, please contact the BMD Enquiry Line (see contact box) to find out whether or not we are able to help.

Countries where we cannot search for certificates of good conduct on your behalf

Please note we cannot search for Certificates of Good Conduct in the following countries. You will not need to apply to the local authorities yourself. You may wish to contact us to see if we have any advice on how to obtain a certificate though. This list is subject to change:

• Angola
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• China
• Czech Republic
  
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong Kong*
• India
• Ireland
• Japan 
• Kenya
• Malawi
• Mexico
  
• Netherlands
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Portugal
• Saudi Arabia
• Somalia
  
• Sweden
  
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Tunisia
• Uganda
• USA
• Venezuela
• Vietnam

 *For Hong Kong, you will need to contact the Hong Kong Police directly, but they will require a ‘letter of verification’ which you can apply for through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at the above address.  You will need to send:

• a bank draft or postal order for £36.00 made payable to “The FCO”, plus one photocopy
  
• your original British passport (or a copy certified by a UK Solicitor or a notary public registered with the Law Society), plus one photocopy
  
• a letter from your prospective employer/university etc
• a covering letter from yourself which includes your contact details.
  

If sending original documents, please enclose a self-addressed pre-paid “special delivery” envelope.
The Certificate of No Criminal Conviction is then sent to the HK police to us at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for forwarding to you. Please include a special delivery envelope for us to do so.

Fees, payment and where to send your application

The fee for this consular service is £128.00 for each document (one per country).  This covers the cost of certificates up to £5.00. If they are more than that sum we will ask you to pay the excess charges when we know the result of the application. Payment methods are a bank draft or postal order made payable to “The FCO”. Personal cheques are not accepted. If you wish to apply for this service, please forward your letter of authorisation, fee and documents to the following address:

Certificate of Good Conduct
Consular Directorate
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Room G38
Old Admiralty Building
London, SW1A 2PA

Original documents will be returned to you within or just after 20 working days and to ensure that they are returned safely we recommend that you include a self-addressed pre-paid special delivery envelope. Please note we do not have facilities to accept callers into the office as a result ALL applications are dealt with by post.

We cannot speed up the process of an application and we need to allow for the period of three months to give the local authorities the opportunity to respond to our request. Please refrain from contacting us about the progress of an application until a period of no less that three months has passed.