Replacement of South African Police Clearance Certificate (SAPCC) Procedure

Following the notice of the South African Police Clearance background checks to be done by the VFS on 01 October 2016, the Department of Home Affairs has announced that the new system has been put on hold until further notice.

The Department of Home Affairs, in its endeavour to streamline processes and as part of the continuous service delivery improvement and efficiency, had planned to replace the South African Police Clearance requirement with the online biometric background checks linked to the South African Police Service database in the application process for temporary residence visas and permanent residence permits at VFS Global Visa application Centres within South Africa.

Please take note that due to further technical enhancements that are required, the replacement of the South African police clearance as outlined above has been temporarily postponed until further notice. The current process facilitated as per the old and existing process of applying forthe police clearance certificate at SAPS continues. All persons requiring police clearance certificates are advised to continue with the existing process until further notice when the new and improved system would be ready for implementation as system developments are currently at the final stage of development.

Published by the Department of Home Affairs www.dha.gov.za