Police clearance certificate

It goes by many names: criminal record certificate, certificate of good conduct, police certificate. It is issued by the authority in the country where you lived, not by the country you are moving to. It is separate from a certificate of good standing, which comes from a health regulator and covers your professional record.

• UK visa: for the Health and Care Worker visa, GOV.UK says you need a criminal record certificate if you apply from outside the UK, unless your job is in one of a few listed occupation codes (such as biochemists and biomedical scientists, laboratory technicians, or ambulance staff excluding paramedics). If you are under 28 you need one from any country where you stayed a total of 12 months or more since turning 18; if you are 28 or over, from any country you stayed in over the last 10 years. UK employers also run a separate DBS check.
• Ireland: the HSE says that if you have lived outside the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since your 16th birthday, you must provide police clearance for each country where you had an address for 6 months or more. It must be dated after you left, cover the whole time you lived there and confirm no convictions. For the USA, the HSE accepts FBI clearance only, not a single state's. This is in addition to Garda vetting.
• Germany: the recognition portal lists a certificate of good conduct (for example a criminal record extract) from your country of origin, with a German translation, no more than 3 months old when submitted, as evidence of personal suitability.
• USA: state boards of nursing set their own rules, but the Nurse Licensure Compact's uniform requirements include state and federal fingerprint-based criminal background checks for a multistate licence.

1. List every country you have lived in, with dates, and compare it with the rule of the body asking.
2. Find the issuing authority. GOV.UK publishes country-by-country guidance on overseas criminal record checks, and the HSE links to authorities in countries such as the UK (ACRO), India, Dubai, Australia and the USA.
3. Apply in that country or through its embassy. Some need fingerprints.
4. Get a certified translation if it is not in the language required.

Processing times depend on the issuing country and can run from days to months, so start early; the HSE advises starting as soon as possible and may withdraw a job offer if clearance cannot be provided in time. You pay any fees. Common problems are a certificate issued before you left the country (Ireland wants one dated after), a certificate older than the window allowed (three months in Germany), and forgetting a country where you spent a few years.