{"id":219,"date":"2024-12-24T05:19:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T22:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/police-clearance-certificate-in-thailand\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T04:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:30:32","slug":"police-clearance-certificate-thailand","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/police-clearance-certificate-thailand\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get a Thai Police Clearance Certificate (2026): Cost, Timing and How Long It Stays Valid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reviewed by ThaiLawOnline, a licensed Thai law firm practising in Thailand since 2006. Thai lawyer of record: Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149\/2556.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short answer:<\/strong> the Thai police clearance certificate is issued by the Police Clearance Service Center of the Royal Thai Police Special Branch Bureau in Lak Si, Bangkok. The government fee is 100 baht<\/strong>, the Centre’s published processing time is 15 working days<\/strong> on its sheet for Thai nationals and is not published at all<\/strong> for a foreign applicant in Thailand, and the certificate carries no printed expiry date<\/strong>. You can apply in person, by post, or through a Thai lawyer with a Power of Attorney<\/a> without setting foot in Bangkok. Our application service costs 4,400 THB per person from abroad<\/strong> or 6,400 THB per person in Thailand<\/strong> for normal service. Fast-track is 8,400 THB per person<\/strong>, subject to confirmation of the current timetable and document requirements. The government filing fee is included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Thai Police Clearance Certificate (PCC), formally \u0e2b\u0e19\u0e31\u0e07\u0e2a\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e23\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e04\u0e27\u0e32\u0e21\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e1e\u0e24\u0e15\u0e34<\/span>, confirms whether you have a criminal conviction registered in Thailand. Foreign immigration authorities, embassies, employers and licensing bodies ask for it for visas, residency, naturalisation<\/a>, adoption<\/a> and jobs abroad. This guide explains how to get one in 2026, inside Thailand or from overseas, how long it stays valid, and who is allowed to ask you for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a glance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n
Question<\/th>Short answer<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n
Who issues it?<\/td>Police Clearance Service Center, Special Branch Bureau, Royal Thai Police, Lak Si, Bangkok<\/td><\/tr>\n
What it proves<\/td>Whether a conviction is registered against you in Thailand’s criminal records<\/td><\/tr>\n
Government fee<\/td>100 baht (in force since 1 October 2012)<\/td><\/tr>\n
Official processing time<\/td>15 working days with a complete file and no record; 25 working days where a record exists. Those are the figures on the Centre’s sheet for Thai nationals. Its sheet for a foreign applicant in Thailand publishes no processing time, and its sheet for applicants residing abroad gives 15 to 25 working days<\/td><\/tr>\n
Validity<\/td>No expiry date is printed on it. The authority you give it to sets its own acceptance window<\/td><\/tr>\n
The “3 months” rule<\/td>Applies to the police certificate from your own country<\/em> for a Thai O-A or O-X visa, not to this document<\/td><\/tr>\n
Apply from abroad?<\/td>Yes. Fingerprint locally, sign a Power of Attorney, we file in Bangkok<\/td><\/tr>\n
Our done-for-you fee<\/td>4,400 THB<\/strong> per person from abroad, 6,400 THB per person in Thailand (originals by post). Fast-track, timetable confirmed before payment: 8,400 THB per person (4,400 + 4,000 express fee). Excludes international courier<\/td><\/tr>\n
Our end-to-end time<\/td>Normal: approximately 25 to 30 days after we confirm receipt of complete originals, allowing separately for delivery and any legalization. Fast-track: current estimated issue date confirmed before payment; no guaranteed seven-day delivery.<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How long is a Thai police clearance certificate valid?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the question most readers arrive with, so it comes first. The answer has three parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The certificate has no expiry date printed on it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Police Clearance Service Center’s own published document sheet, which sets out the fee, the processing time and the document list, says nothing about validity or expiry. Nothing on the certificate itself says “valid until”. In Thai law the document does not lapse on its own. What matters is the date of issue printed on it and the recency rule of whoever asked for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who decides how long it is good for<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The receiving authority sets the window, and the windows differ. In our experience most immigration departments accept a Thai certificate issued within the last 6 months<\/strong>. Some Schengen consulates want one issued within 3 months<\/strong>. Employers and professional licensing bodies are usually more relaxed. The practical rule: find the recency requirement of the visa, job or licence you are applying for, count back from your submission date, and apply so the certificate is issued inside that window. Applying too early is the most common way to have to pay for it twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “3 months” rule you have read about is a different document<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sixteen variations of one search ask whether a Thai police clearance is “valid for 3 months” for a visa. The confusion comes from Thailand’s own retirement visa rules, and no page on the English web separates the two documents cleanly, so here it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ requirements for the Non-Immigrant O-A (Long Stay) visa ask for a letter or certificate issued by the country of the applicant’s nationality or residence<\/strong> stating that the applicant has no criminal record, and that document must be valid for not more than three months<\/strong> and notarised by a notary or by the applicant’s own diplomatic mission. The O-X visa follows the same pattern. That is a foreign<\/em> police certificate, issued by your own country’s<\/em> police, presented to<\/em> a Thai embassy. The Royal Thai Police has nothing to do with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Thai PCC on this page travels in the opposite direction: issued by the Thai police, presented to a foreign government or employer. It carries no 3 month rule, or any other printed limit. If you are applying for a Thai retirement visa and a checklist says “police clearance, valid 3 months”, it means the certificate from home. Applying to the Special Branch Bureau instead costs you the fee and at least fifteen working days, and gets you a document the embassy did not ask for. Our retirement visa guide<\/a> covers the home-country side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Thai\n
Two different documents. The 3 month rule belongs to the certificate your own country issues for a Thai O-A or O-X visa. The Thai certificate carries no printed expiry.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Where the “8 to 12 months” figure comes from, and why we no longer publish it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Several guides, including an earlier page on this site, state that a Thai police clearance is valid for eight to twelve months. We have never found a source for that number. It does not appear on the Centre’s document sheet, it is not printed on the certificate, and no receiving authority we know of applies it. It is a myth with a number attached. We removed it in September 2026 rather than replace it with a different guess. If a checklist gives you a validity period, that period comes from the checklist’s author, not from the Royal Thai Police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which office issues it, and why half the internet sends you to the wrong one<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The correct address, from the Centre’s own sheet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The certificate is issued by the Police Clearance Service Center (\u0e28\u0e39\u0e19\u0e22\u0e4c\u0e1a\u0e23\u0e34\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e2d\u0e2d\u0e01\u0e2b\u0e19\u0e31\u0e07\u0e2a\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e23\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e04\u0e27\u0e32\u0e21\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e1e\u0e24\u0e15\u0e34<\/span>), which sits inside the Royal Thai Police Special Branch Bureau<\/strong> (\u0e01\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e1a\u0e31\u0e0d\u0e0a\u0e32\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e15\u0e33\u0e23\u0e27\u0e08\u0e2a\u0e31\u0e19\u0e15\u0e34\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25<\/span>). Its published address is the Public Service Center building, 2nd floor, 27\/40 Soi Vibhavadi Rangsit 27, Thung Song Hong, Lak Si, Bangkok 10210<\/strong>, telephone 0 2551 1999. It is in northern Bangkok, a short taxi ride from Don Mueang airport and close to the Government Complex on Chaeng Watthana Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guides written abroad often name the Criminal Records Division instead. That division holds the police criminal-records database, but the certificate is applied for at, and issued by, the Special Branch Bureau’s Service Center. If a checklist tells you to go to the Criminal Records Division, go to the address above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Thai consulate websites still give the Pathum Wan address<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Several Royal Thai embassy and consulate websites, the Consulate-General in Sydney among them, still publish the Service Center at “Building 24, Royal Thai Police Headquarters, Rama I Road, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330”, with the older telephone number. That was the Centre’s location before it moved to Lak Si. The wrong address on our own former criminal-records page was the same error the diplomatic network is still circulating. If you turn up at police headquarters in Pathum Wan, you will be sent north. Use the Lak Si address, and if a consulate’s fingerprinting service gives you a covering letter addressed to Building 24, the Centre will still accept it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is a Thai police clearance the same as a criminal record check?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes. A police check, a criminal record check, a criminal background check and a certificate of good conduct are the same document in Thailand: the Police Clearance Certificate issued by the Special Branch Bureau’s Service Center. There is no second product and no second office. Checklists rarely use the official name, so if your visa application asks for a “background check” or a “police certificate covering your time in Thailand”, apply for the certificate on this page with the same forms and the same fingerprints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the certificate reports is whether a conviction is registered against you in Thailand’s central criminal records. It does not reach into other countries’ records, and if you have lived in several countries you will need a certificate from each. The two questions worth asking the authority that requested it are whether they need the certificate legalised, and what recency window they apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it costs and how long it takes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The government fee: 100 baht<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Royal Thai Police charges an official fee of 100 baht<\/strong> for the record check, stated on the Centre’s sheet as in force since 1 October 2012. Two variants apply in practice: 160 baht if someone else files for you at the counter, and an applicant abroad who does not send prepaid return postage transfers 700 baht instead. A Power of Attorney for a representative needs a 10 baht revenue stamp. If you use a lawyer or agent you pay a service fee on top; ours is set out below and includes the government fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official processing: 15 working days, or 25 where a record exists, and which sheet says so<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Centre’s sheet gives 15 working days<\/strong> where the documents are complete and the check finds no record or security concern, and 25 working days<\/strong> where a record exists, in which case a copy of the court judgment and a certified copy confirming the case is final must be filed as well. Nothing on the sheet offers a faster government track. Those two figures are printed on the Centre’s sheet for Thai nationals.<\/strong> Its separate sheet for a foreign applicant residing in Thailand is a document list and publishes no processing period at all, and its English sheet for applicants residing abroad gives 15 to 25 working days<\/strong>. So a foreigner applying inside Thailand has no official timetable to hold the Centre to, which is why our own estimate below is longer than the government figure rather than equal to it. An agent can prepare and lodge the papers correctly the first time, which is where time is usually lost, but cannot shorten the Centre’s own processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our normal-service estimate is approximately 25 to 30 days after we confirm receipt of your complete original documents. This is our service estimate, not a separate official police processing rule. Certificate issuance, receipt of the original, legalization and courier delivery are separate stages. For fast-track service, ask us to confirm the current estimated issue date and original-document requirements before payment. We do not guarantee issuance or delivery within seven days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Documents you need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Foreign nationals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n