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Thread: Paying for police checks

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Posts
    223

    Default Paying for police checks

    Hi guys,

    I may be unreasonably irritated about this but both OH and I have to get police checks - me for my visa and him as my sponsor - I understand this and am totally fine with it. I even understand that we have to pay and don't think it's particularly excessive considering the cost of everything else - £35 each. But we can only pay through a cheque, postal order or bankers draft. Neither of us have cheque books because banks are trying to phase them out and I've just looked up to find out how to get a postal order and you have to pay 12.5% of the value of the postal order. For some reason that really annoys me, and I am aware how petty it sounds even as I'm typing it but there you go. Grrrrr.

    Laura

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    250

    Default

    Laura I agree with you. That's why I look to paying with cheques as the last option. I usually use credit card which is the least expensive, quick and convenient. May I ask why you do not want to pay by a credit card?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    39

    Default

    Get a cheque book, its a quick and dirty way of transferring money from your UK to NZ account in emergencies when you are here.

    We had to get a Canadian police check for my wife as well as the UK ones. They would only accept a certified cheque or money order (which don't really have UK equivalents) and it was going to take 3 months as well as having to go to Scotland Yard to get the finger prints taken. She went to Canada for a long weekend instead and did her medical while there which saved us about £250 which went towards the airfare and the police check done in 5 days!!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    California to Tasman Bay
    Posts
    1,137

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Lauralocks View Post
    Hi guys,

    I may be unreasonably irritated about this but both OH and I have to get police checks - me for my visa and him as my sponsor - I understand this and am totally fine with it. I even understand that we have to pay and don't think it's particularly excessive considering the cost of everything else - £35 each. But we can only pay through a cheque, postal order or bankers draft. Neither of us have cheque books because banks are trying to phase them out and I've just looked up to find out how to get a postal order and you have to pay 12.5% of the value of the postal order. For some reason that really annoys me, and I am aware how petty it sounds even as I'm typing it but there you go. Grrrrr.

    Laura
    I feel your pain. It's annoying because you get nickeled and dimed from start to finish in this process. Every time you try and estimate the cost, make a budget, something else comes up. 12.5% of 35 isn't a lot until you add up all of the ways these little extras pop up. I think venting a grrrr is not petty but normal. I'll grrrr with you! grrrrr

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Posts
    223

    Default

    I think I may try to get a cheque book for those kind of emergencies but they are becoming of limited us in the UK - a couple of people I know have recently had cheques returned to them because companies are starting to no longer accept them since the cheque guarantee scheme stopped.

    I would love to pay be credit card but that isn't an option - cheque, postal order or bankers draft only, I guess because you have to send it in the post and/or ACPO don't have any way to process other payments. I will, of course, be paying for my medical exam, visa etc by card, it's just the stupid, backward police people!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    I believe some government departments won't take credit cards, not from backwardness or stupidity, but because they can't get involved in everything that might crop up if e.g. the card-holder were to start a dispute under laws intended for commercial purchase.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Sheffield, England
    Posts
    212

    Default

    Surely its more hassle for them to have to go to the Post Office to cash the postal orders!!!!! Why cant they accept debits cards? I bet its a cost per transaction thing. Unbelieveable!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Edinburgh>Cambridge>Auckland
    Posts
    758

    Default

    We had to get a police certificate from a country we no longer lived in. We were told it would take 6 months as it had to travel in the diplomatic bag there and back. We had a choice of delaying our departure or getting an 18 month work permit instead which did not entitle us to medical care. Medical insurance cost us $1000 for a year.

    Can your bank issue you with a cheque?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    UK-To-NZ
    Posts
    189

    Default

    I paid by postal order of £35 each adult and got police cert in just 3 days. It was before x-mas. Normaly they take 10days and faster service cost £70. I was really surprised to see police Certs under three days. Where are you inn uk ?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Posts
    223

    Default

    We're in London.

    I think the process seems easy enough and relatively quick except for the payment but it will be fine, I was just being grumpy but I'm over it now!

    I'm getting the photos and formed signed by a barrister friend of mine this week (he will also be doing all the certification of the documents to support my application when I get to that point in exchange for dinner and a bottle of wine - which is handy!) so hopefully we'll have them back soon enough.

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