The government recently announced the upgrade of the Police Clearance Certificate System, aimed at improving service delivery by expediting the production of Certificate of Good Conduct documents.
The system has moved the processing periods to one day as compared to the previous 14 days, in a bid to clear a backlog that has elicited concerns from members of the public who complain of delays.
Director of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mohamed Amin welcomed the upgrade urging members of the public to take advantage of the same-day processing of the Police Clearance Certificates (PCC).
He mentioned that applicants no longer have to schedule fingerprinting appointments through the eCitizen portal. Instead, they should choose their preferred fingerprinting centres for convenience.
Additionally, to prevent cases of returned applications, applicants are advised to ensure that the copies of their ID cards attached to the completed forms are clear duplicates, with the thumbprint clearly visible.
The application process is as follows:
Before applying the applicant must first meet the following criteria:
1. Must be a Kenyan citizen with a valid Kenyan national ID number.
2. Must have a clean criminal record with no pending criminal cases.
3. Must have your fingerprints registered in the National Fingerprints Bureau database. This is usually done during your national ID registration process.
4. Must have a valid email address and phone number for communication.
5. Must have a mobile money account with M-PESA, Airtel Money, T-Kash, or Equitel to pay the application fee.
How to apply for the certificate:
1. Applicants should visit the eCitizen website at https://www.ecitizen.go.ke. On the ecitizen homepage, click on the “Services” tab and then select “National Police Service.” From the menu, choose “Apply for Certificate of Good Conduct.” This will open the online application form.
The online application form requires the following details:
- The applicant’s full names as they appear on their Kenyan national ID.
- The applicant’s Kenyan national ID number. or original birth certificate for minors.
- The applicant’s date of birth.
- The applicant’s county of birth.
- The applicant’s gender.
- The applicant’s current location (county of residence).
- The applicant’s valid email address.
- The applicant’s active mobile phone number.
- The reason the applicant needs the certificate of good conduct. This can be for employment, visa application, college
2. The applicant should download and print two copies of their invoice, and one copy of their C24 on both sides On an A4 paper. The C24 is a form where one’s fingerprints are taken and can be downloaded from the e-citizen portal.
3. The applicant has the choice of picking their preferred date and location for the fingerprint capture. He/she is required to then pay for the fingerprint capture using their mobile money account.
It is important to take note of the appointment details including the reference number. This will be required during the fingerprint capture appointment.
4. On the day of the capture, the applicant should carry their original national ID card, the appointment reference number, two downloaded copies of the invoice and one copy of the C24 printed on both sides of a C24.
5. The officers will verify the applicant’s ID, scan their fingerprints using a biometric machine and upload them to the system. Those out of the country can send their professionally scanned fingerprinted forms.
In the event the applicant misses the appointment date, they will have to book and pay for a new one.
6. The applicant should then proceed to pay the certificate application fees after the capture of fingerprints.
The application fee is Kshs 3,000 for Kenyan citizens. International applicants will have to incur higher costs.
The fee can be paid through M-PESA, Airtel Money, T-Kash or Equitel. The applicant should be cautious to make a mistake keying in the reference number provided.
They will then receive an SMS and email confirming receipt of their application.
7. After completing the application and payments, the applicant should wait for it to be processed by the DCI after which they will be notified via email and SMS of the application status.
- If approved, one will receive a message that the certificate is ready for download.
- If rejected, the message will indicate the reasons e.g. criminal record detected, fingerprints not verified etc.
- If delayed, they will receive a notification that it is still being processed. The applicant should keep checking regularly, even in email spam folders and texts in case they miss any communication.
8. Once the certificate of good conduct application is approved, the applicant will receive a notification that it is ready for download from the eCitizen portal. They can access it via their eCitizen account and from the services menu, they should select “Download Certificate of Good Conduct”. They should then input their application reference number when prompted. Click download and the certificate of good conduct will be downloaded as a PDF file to your device
Once generated, your certificate remains on your e-citizen account for six months after which it is pulled down.
