U.S. citizens may be asked to present a “certificate of good conduct” or a “police clearance certificate” for a variety of reasons in Taiwan, such as when applying for an Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC). Also, U.S. citizens applying for a Taiwan residence visa based on a marital relationship with a Taiwan national may be required to obtain a police clearance certificate.

The Taiwan National Immigration Agency (NIA) requires that U.S. citizens acquire an FBI clearance for visa/ APRC purposes. FBI clearances are referred to as FBI Identification Records or Criminal History Records. Instructions for requesting an Identification Records or Criminal Background Check document can be found on the FBI website.

If your FBI Identification Record will be used in applying for a visa/APRC, it must be authenticated by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) (Consular Division) in the U.S. before being presented to the NIA. Obtaining the FBI Record and having it authenticated by TECRO will take at least one month.

AIT cannot take fingerprints. You can do this in Taiwan at a local service center of the Taiwan National Immigration Agency (NIA)  (for a fee). FBI requires that you use a standard fingerprint form (FD-258) which is available for download from the FBI website cited above. Note that the ORI and OCA fields at the top of the fingerprint card do NOT apply to international applicants, so you can leave them blank. Please refer to the website of the NIA for more information on police clearance certificates related to APRC application and for the addresses and phone numbers of each city/county service center in Taiwan, their hours and fees.

Once you have the authenticated certificate here in Taiwan, you may then need to have it translated into Chinese, and have that translation notarized by a Taiwan public notary.

For more information about Criminal Record Checks, please visit the U.S. Department of State.