Depending upon what Australian visa you have applied for, you may be required to provide a Thai Police clearance certificate if you have spent more than 12 months cumulative in Thailand during the past 10 years. This also applies to a sponsor and any additional applicants aged 17 years or over. If your Thai wife has applied for a partner visa to migrate to Australia, she will be required to provide a Thai Police clearance certificate. If you as her sponsor have spent more than 12 months in Thailand in the past 10 years, you will also need to provide one.
Australian visa processing times vary. A partner visa application can take a significant amount of time to be finalised and in most cases more than 12 months from date of application. As any police checks are only valid for 12 months from the date that they are issued, it is advisable to only apply for any police checks when requested to do so by the Department. If your police check expires before your visa is granted, you will be required to provide another current police check. Obtain a Thai Police clearance certificate is not a complicated process, but there are a few steps that you must follow.
Obtaining a letter of introduction from the Australian Embassy Bangkok
If you have been asked to provide a Thai Police clearance certificate for your Australian visa application, you will first need to obtain a letter of introduction from the Australian Embassy Bangkok. This is the formal letter that informs the Royal Thai Police that your police clearance certificate is required by the Australian Government for an Australian visa application. You can obtain this letter from the Australian Visa Application Centre in Bangkok, which is located at The Trendy Office Building, 28th Floor, Sukhumvit Soi 13. You don’t need to make an appointment to obtain the letter of introduction, but make sure you take your original passport and a copy of your acknowledgement of having made a valid visa application. The letter of introduction then needs to then be taken to the Royal Thai Police, Police Clearance Service Centre.
I cannot attend the Australian Visa Application Centre. How can I obtain a letter of introduction?
If you are unable to attend the Australian Visa Application Centre in person, you can obtain a letter of introduction by email by contacting the Australian Visa Application Centre at info.auth@vfshelpline.com
Obtaining a Thai Police clearance certificate from the Royal Thai Police
After you have obtained the letter of introduction, you will then need to attend the Royal Thai Police, Police Clearance Service Centre, Building 24, Royal Thai Police, Rama 1, Pathumwan, Bangkok (located near Siam BTS). You do not need to make an appointment. Make sure you have ALL original documents with you, such as:
- Letter of Introduction from the Australian Embassy Bangkok
- Passport
- ID card
- Birth Certificate
- House Registration (Tabien Ban)
- All documents evidencing any name change (if applicable)
- Document of single status (if applicable)
- Marriage certificates (if applicable)
- Divorce certificates (if applicable)
- Evidence of any military service (if applicable)
After you have applied for your Thai Police clearance certificate, you will receive it by post in approximately four weeks.
See related topics:
Australian visa processing times
De-facto visa for Thai partner to migrate to Australia
Australian partner visa for my Thai wife