Guide for Obtaining Your Certificate of No Criminal Record in Guangzhou, China

This is a guide for people who are not citizens of China about how to apply for a Certificate of No Criminal Record in Guangzhou, China. Certificate of No Criminal Record is also known as a police certificate/check/clearance in other countries.

On March 1, 2019, the Provisions of Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department Regarding the Application for and the Handling of Certificates of No Criminal Record came into effect. While the new regulation brings improvements with respect to streamlining the application process, it imposes a stricter requirement on Temporary Residence Registration Forms.

China does not have a national authority that issues Certificates of No Criminal Record. Instead, local authorities in each city issue Certificates of No Criminal Record to foreign nationals who have resided in the city. Furthermore, each certificate only covers the period of a foreign national’s residence in a particular city. This means a foreign national may need multiple certificates if he has lived in multiple cities. However, Guangdong Province becomes an exception thanks to the new regulation, which allows a foreign national to apply for a single certificate covering his entire time in Guangdong Province regardless of how many cities he has lived in Guangdong Province.

Foreign nationals may need to obtain a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China for a variety of reasons including immigration, employment, etc. Typically, a Certificate of No Criminal Record is not acceptable for these purposes until it is notarized by a local notary office in China. (In some cases, it also needs to be authenticated by the embassy representing the country where the certificate is to be used. For more information about that process, please check our authentication guide.) And it is for this reason that our guide below has two steps, namely “STEP 1: Application for a Certificate of No Criminal Record” and “STEP 2: Notarization of the Certificate of No Criminal Record”.

STEP 1: Application for a Certificate of No Criminal Record

WHERE TO APPLY?

A foreign national may apply for a Certificate of No Criminal Record with the Division of Exit and Entry Administration of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau (PSB). The contact information is shown below.

Address	Jiefang Nanlu 155 Hao, Yuexiu Qu, Guangzhou (In Chinese, 广州市越秀区解放南路155号)
Telephone	+86 020-12367
Office Hours	8:30-12:00 and 14:00-17:30, Monday to Friday, closed during holidays.

WHO ARE ELIGIBLE?

• Have had residence permits issued from Guangzhou evidenced by your Temporary Residence Registration Form(s).
• Have lived in Guangzhou for 180 days or longer.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS?

• Passport(s).
• Temporary Residence Registration Form(s)
• Power of attorney, if a third-party is appointed to handle the application.

PROCESSING TIME?

The processing time for most cases is 3 business days.

SAMPLE CERTIFICATE OF NO CRIMINAL RECORD ISSUED IN GUANGZHOU

STEP 2: Notarization of the Certificate of No Criminal Record

WHERE TO APPLY?

We always go to Guangzhou Notary Public Office for the notarization of Certificates of No Criminal Record. Contact information of Guangzhou Notary Public Office is shown belwo.

Address	Dongfeng Zhonglu Yuexiu Chengshi Guangchang Nanta 10~12 Lou, Yuexiu Qu, Guangzhou 510030 (In Chinese, 广州市越秀区东风中路越秀城市广场南塔10~12楼 邮编510030)
Telephone	020-83183060
Office Hours	9:00-12:30 and 14:00-17:30, Monday to Friday, closed during holidays.

Guangzhou Notary Public Office has one central office (with the address above) and four branch offices. It is recommended to make your application with the central office. The other branch offices may not be familiar with this particular notary application. The processing time with the notary is about 10 business days.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS?

• Certificate of No Criminal Record issued by Guangzhou police
• Passport(s).
• If another person is appointed to file the notary application, you also need to provide a power of attorney and a picture of you holding the signed power of attorney.

PROCESSING TIME?

1 to 2 weeks.

SAMPLE NOTARIAL CERTIFICATE OF NO CRIMINAL RECORD

All notary offices across China issue Notarial Certificates of No Criminal Record in the same format. Please take a look at our article, What a Certificate of No Criminal Record Should Look Like.

Conclusion

The Guangdong rules about the issuance of Certificate of No Criminal Record are not inclusive in nature. And local authorities are given discretionary powers in practice. If you have an issue that is not covered here, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are committed to providing high-quality services for obtaining Certificates of No Criminal Record in Guangzhou. If you are interested in hiring us, please fill in a quote request form. Click the below button to get started.