BENGALURU: To ease the process of issuing a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) for the public, the Ministry of External Affairs has authorised the Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) to collect applications in this connection. A total of 12 out of 23 POPSKs in Karnataka have begun offering the service since Wednesday (September 28).
PCCs are issued to Indian passport holders who apply for residential status, employment, long-term visa or for immigration to select foreign countries.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Krishna K, Regional Passport Officer, Regional Passport Officer, Bengaluru, said the certificate is mandatory to work in select foreign countries and establishes that the individual does not have a criminal background. Until September 27, only the five Passport Seva Kendras at Hubballi, Mangaluru, Marthahalli, Kalaburagi and Lalbagh were authorised to collect the applications.
“The PCC will continue to be issued only by the Regional Passport Office. This will offer many conveniences to the public to apply within their area itself at the nearest POPSK. Many have to travel across districts to do the same now,” Krishna said.
Presently, an average of 180 PCCs applications are received daily at the passport kendras at Lal Bagh while the Sai Arcade centre at Marthahalli receives 120 requests, the official added.
POPSKs at Ballari, Belagavi, Bidar, Davangere, Gadag, Hassan, Mysuru, Raichur Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Udipi and Vijayapura have started the PCC process. It would be extended to the rest of the POPSKs also. Bengaluru’s POPSK is yet to start the process.
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Indonesia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, UAE, Yemen, Canada and Australia are among the countries which require PCC from Indians.
The PCC certificate has a validity of six months. There is no fixed time frame for its issue but on average it takes between two to three weeks to be given after all verification has been completed.