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Police Clearance (Certificate of good conduct)
Police Clearance Certificates are issued by the Federal Central Register (Bundeszentralregister) of the German Federal Office for Justice.
The certificate of conduct, sometimes referred to as a “police check”, “background check” or “criminal records check”, is an official document printed on special green paper which shows whether or not an individual has previously been convicted of a criminal offence. This data on previous convictions comes from the Federal Central Criminal Register.
You have to apply for a certificate of good conduct with the Federal Office of Justice in Bonn/Germany. The certificate of good conduct is not issued at the Consulate.
Personal data and signature on the application form have to be officially certified. This official confirmation can be obtained with any Canadian notary public, and sometimes at a police station.
You can also have your signature and personal data certified by the German Consulates in Toronto and Vancouver. For that, you need to book an appointment in the category “other consular services” on our website, present the application form and a valid passport. If you are a German citizen, you need to present your valid German passport or “Personalausweis”. The Consulate charges a fee (see here: Fees for consular services) for the vertification of your data in addition to the issuance fee of the Federal Office of Justice.
Please note that the Consulate charges a fee for the signature certification in addition to the issuance fee of the Federal Office of Justice.
The certificate of conduct can only be issued once the fee has been received. Please include proof of payment with your application.
Important banking information:
The following are some details, your Canadian bank may required to transfer the funds to the German bank account:
Name of recipient: Federal Office of Justice
Address of recipient: Adenauerallee 99 – 103, 53113 Bonn, Germany
Name of Bank: Bundesbank
Address of Bank: Gustav-Heinemann-Ufer 96-100, 50968 Köln
Branch #: 37000000
Account #: 0038001005
The branch # and account # are also combined in the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) which is listed on the letter.
The BIC ( Bank Identifier Code) is also listed on the information sheet. BIC is also known as SWIFT.
Please ensure that the full amount is received by the Bundesamt für Justiz. Additional bank fees, which are charged by the German bank, when making a transfer from Canada, must be paid by the sender to avoid an additional request of payment. This fee is often around 12 euros and should be added to the amount you wish to transfer. Your bank should be able to determine to correct amount.
The address can be found on the top left of the application form.
How long will it take to receive the certificate of conduct? Please see the FAQ of the Federal Office of Justice: FAQ
If you have any questions as to the status of your application, use the following contact details
Additional content
You always need an appointment for any type of service at a German foreign mission. Depeding on the mission, appointments can be booked online or by phone.
Please use this form to contact us in consular matters
