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Guide

The U.S. Police Clearance Certificate — What to Actually Order

Why the document your immigration authority asked for has a different name at the agency that issues it, what each authority calls it, and when a federal certificate is not enough on its own.

Last updated 2026-08-01 · 7 min read

The short answer

What is the U.S. equivalent of a police clearance certificate?

The FBI Identity History Summary. Order it from the FBI — online, by post, or through an approved Channeler if you are eligible — and then check separately whether your authority wants it apostilled. [1] How to Get an FBI Background Check

Basis
The FBI publishes this record under the name Identity History Summary [1], while the authorities that request it use their own vocabulary: Canada asks for a "police certificate" [2], Australia for a "penal clearance certificate" [3], and the UK Home Office for an overseas "criminal record certificate" [4].
Caveat
The FBI summary covers the federal fingerprint index. Some authorities also ask for state or local police records, which are issued by a different body entirely. Read the wording of the request you were sent before assuming one document satisfies it.

This is a vocabulary problem, not a procedural one. Nobody who is asked for a police clearance certificate is asked for it by the FBI — they are asked by a consulate, an immigration department, or an employer abroad, and those bodies use the name common in their own system. The FBI has never used it. [1]

The same document, by the name your authority uses
What you were asked forWho uses that nameWhat to order
Police clearance certificate (PCC)Widely used across South Asia, the Gulf, and much of Africa and Latin AmericaFBI Identity History Summary [1]
Police certificateImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [2]FBI Identity History Summary — and see the Channeler restriction below
Penal clearance certificateAustralian Department of Home Affairs [3]FBI Identity History Summary
Criminal record certificateUK Home Office, for overseas applicants [4]FBI Identity History Summary
Good conduct certificate / certificate of no criminal recordCommon in consular instructions translated into EnglishFBI Identity History Summary
FBI clearance / FBI background checkEveryday speech, and most commercial sitesFBI Identity History Summary — the same thing again

Every row is the same federal record. What differs between them is what the receiving authority does with it, and whether it must be apostilled first.

What the certificate actually says

If the FBI holds no record indexed to your fingerprints, you receive a summary saying so. That document — not the absence of a document — is the clearance. [1] It is the outcome most visa and residency applications are asking for, and it is why a no-record result is a success rather than an empty response.

If the FBI does hold a record, the summary lists what contributing agencies have submitted about you. If an entry is wrong or incomplete, the correction is made through the agency that contributed the information, and can also be directed to the FBI. [5] That is a separate process from ordering the certificate, and it takes its own time — start it before a deadline, not after. Reading Your Identity History Summary

Ordering it, and the one restriction that catches people out

The mechanics are the same as for any Identity History Summary request: fingerprints, then submission by one of three routes, then $18 to the FBI. [7] The full sequence is in How to Get an FBI Background Check, and the cost breakdown in What an FBI Background Check Costs.

Channelers are in any case closed to anyone who is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, which excludes a large share of the people who need a police clearance certificate in the first place. [8] If that is you, the decision is already made: you apply directly. Direct to the FBI or an Approved Channeler?

After it arrives

  1. Check the recency window. The FBI puts no expiry date on the summary. The deadline comes from the authority that asked for it, commonly three or six months from issue. How Long Does an FBI Background Check Take?
  2. Check whether it must be authenticated. Many governments will not accept a foreign public document without an apostille or consular legalization. [9] Whether yours does is a country question, answered in Apostille or Legalization for an FBI Background Check and per-destination in the country guides.
  3. Check whether it must be translated, and by whom. Some systems accept any competent translator; others require a sworn or officially registered one. The requirement comes from the destination, not from the FBI.

Government sources

The agencies that use each of these names, at source, so you can match the wording of your own instructions against what the issuing body publishes.

Common questions

I searched fbi.gov for "police clearance certificate" and found nothing. Am I in the wrong place?
No — you are in the right place under the wrong name. The FBI publishes this record as an Identity History Summary and does not use the phrase police clearance certificate at all. [1] Search for Identity History Summary instead.
I have never lived in the United States. Can I still get one?
Yes. The direct route carries no citizenship or residency condition; anyone can request their own record. [5] What changes when you are abroad is where your fingerprints are taken and how long the post takes. Getting an FBI Background Check From Outside the United States
Do I need a PCC from every country I have lived in?
That is decided by the authority processing your application, and many do ask for one per country of residence over a threshold period. This site covers the United States document only; for the others, read the instructions you were sent.
Is a private background-check report the same thing?
No, and substituting one is a common and costly error. Commercial reports are name-based database searches sold by consumer reporting companies. The certificate an immigration authority wants is the fingerprint-indexed federal record issued by the FBI. The Identity History Summary Is Not an Employment Background Check
My name is spelled differently on my passport and my old documents. Which do I use?
Use the passport spelling, and keep it identical across the fingerprint card, the request, the apostille request, and any translation. Inconsistency between documents is one of the most common causes of rejection at the receiving end.

Next decision

  • How do I get an FBI background check?

    There are three ways, and all of them start with your fingerprints. You can apply online to the FBI, mail a paper request to the FBI, or go through an FBI-approved Channeler. The FBI's own fee is $18. Channelers add their own fee and can only serve U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

  • Can I get an FBI background check while living abroad?

    Yes. Applying directly to the FBI is not restricted to people inside the United States. But Channelers are closed to you unless you are a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, you must arrange fingerprinting locally on an FD-258 card, and international post — not FBI processing — usually decides how long it takes.

  • Does my FBI background check need an apostille, and who issues it?

    Only if the authority receiving it asked for one. If it did, and the destination is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, the apostille comes from the U.S. Department of State — never from a state Secretary of State, because the FBI summary is a federal document. The Department's fee is $20 per document. If the destination is not a party, you need consular legalization instead.

In depth

The reference layer, where these facts are set out at length and cited in full. You do not need any of it to act on this guide.

  • What Is an FBI Identity History Summary?

    The Identity History Summary is the FBI's official name for the record of arrest and related fingerprint submissions held on an individual. This article defines the document, explains what it contains, and identifies the legal authority under which a person may obtain their own copy.

  • Reading Your Identity History Summary

    What appears on the document, what a no-record result looks like, and how the process for challenging an inaccurate entry works under federal regulation.

  • The Identity History Summary Is Not an Employment Background Check

    Two different regimes are routinely confused. An Identity History Summary is a record disclosed to its own subject under federal regulation. Commercial employment screening is a separate activity governed by consumer reporting law. This article sets out the distinction.

References

Every source below is a primary publication of the body that controls the fact it supports. See the citation policy.

  1. [1]Identity History Summary Checks — Federal Bureau of Investigation. Reviewed 2026-08-01.fbi.gov returns 403 to all retrieval, so this page was read from the Internet Archive snapshot of 31 July 2026 (web.archive.org/web/20260731011046). That snapshot carries the “Current Processing Time” block, the $18 fee, and the channeler eligibility restriction quoted on this site.https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/identity-history-summary-checks
  2. [2]Police certificates — United States — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Reviewed 2026-07-31.https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/police-certificates/united-states.html
  3. [3]Character requirements — penal clearance certificates — Australian Department of Home Affairs. Reviewed 2026-08-01.immi.homeaffairs.gov.au rejects automated retrieval; reviewed manually in a browser.https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/meeting-our-requirements/character
  4. [4]Criminal records checks for overseas applicants — UK Home Office / GOV.UK. Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants
  5. [5]28 CFR Part 16, Subpart C — Production of FBI Identification Records — Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-I/part-16/subpart-C
  6. [6]28 CFR 20.33 — Dissemination of criminal history record information — Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-I/part-20/subpart-B/section-20.33
  7. [7]28 CFR 16.33 — Fee for production of identification record — Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Reviewed 2026-08-01.The $18 fee is set here, in regulation. Cited in preference to the FBI's web pages because the regulation is the instrument that fixes the amount.https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-I/part-16/subpart-C/section-16.33
  8. [8]List of FBI-Approved Channelers — Federal Bureau of Investigation. Reviewed 2026-08-01.The list itself could not be retrieved — fbi.gov returns 403 and no usable archived copy was found. It is cited only for the fact that the FBI maintains such a list at this address. What this site says about channeler eligibility and cost comes from the main Identity History Summary page, which was verified.https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/identity-history-summary-checks/list-of-fbi-approved-channelers
  9. [9]Status Table — Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents — Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41

Change log

  • 2026-08-01First publication. Written because the phrase most requesters are given is not the phrase the issuing agency uses.

Last updated 2026-08-01