Police Checks for a 482 Visa: The AFP Certificate and Overseas Police Certificates

A police check for a 482 visa means a police certificate from each country, Australia included, where you lived for 12 months or more in the last 10 years, and the Australian one must be an Australian Federal Police (AFP) certificate ordered under Code 33. Each certificate is valid for 12 months from its issue date and must cover the time from your 16th birthday to the issue date, or your whole stay in that country (Home Affairs, Character requirements for visas, updated 20 August 2026). The first step for anyone who has lived in Australia that long is the AFP’s online application, which costs $56, needs 100 points of identity documents and every name you have used, and is completed within 48 hours in most cases.

How to apply for each overseas certificate is set out country by country in the Home Affairs location finder, offices outside Australia (Character requirements for visas).

Who needs a police certificate?

A police certificate is needed from each 482 applicant Home Affairs asks, which is usually anyone over 17 who lived in a country, including Australia, for at least 12 months in the last 10 years (Home Affairs, Character requirements for visas, updated 20 August 2026). The time is counted cumulatively, not in one continuous stretch (Home Affairs, Character, Evidence of). The character requirement itself applies to the main applicant and to family members aged 16 or over who apply with them (Home Affairs, Core Skills stream page).

Character is one of two checks every family member meets. The other is health, set out in the guide to the 482 visa medical examination.

Does an accredited sponsor change this?

Yes, for overseas certificates only. A worker nominated by an accredited sponsor does not need police certificates from countries other than Australia if the application includes a reference from the sponsor confirming good character and no criminal convictions. Australian police certificates are still required where the time rule applies or Home Affairs asks for one (Core Skills stream page).

The AFP national police check

The AFP national police check is the only Australian police certificate Home Affairs accepts, and it is ordered in five steps (AFP, National Police Checks; Home Affairs, Character requirements for visas):

The AFP completes most certificates within 48 hours and emails the digital certificate as a secure PDF; name and fingerprint checks take 15 to 30 business days. The certificate draws on all Australian police services and lists disclosable court outcomes, outstanding warrants and pending charges, and the AFP cannot say in advance what a certificate will show.

Why a state police check will not do

A state or territory police check is not accepted for a 482. Home Affairs states that it does not accept state- or territory-issued police certificates and that the AFP check must be ordered under Code 33, so a state check ordered for a job, a licence or volunteering has to be replaced by an AFP Code 33 certificate.

Overseas police certificates by country

Overseas police certificates are applied for in the way the Home Affairs location finder sets out for each country; this guide does not reproduce the country entries. Two rules apply to all of them:

1. Each certificate is valid for 12 months from its issue date and must cover the time from your 16th birthday, or your whole stay in that country.
2. Home Affairs can ask for a new certificate if you went back to a country after your earlier certificate from it expired.

Military service

Military service of more than 12 months in any country’s military force usually leads Home Affairs to ask for a military certificate, such as a letter from your commanding officer stating whether you were convicted of any offence while serving. It can also ask for a police certificate for each country you served in for over 12 months, including a country where you were stationed at a base, and for Form 1399, Declaration of Service (Character requirements for visas).

How long is a certificate valid?

A police certificate is valid for 12 months from its issue date for Home Affairs, whatever the issuing country prints on it. It must cover either the time from your 16th birthday to the issue date, or the whole time you were in that country. Home Affairs can ask for a new certificate if you returned to the country after the earlier one expired.

In practice, applicants time their certificates so they are recent at lodgement, because an expired certificate during processing can lead to a request for a new one.

What if a country will not issue one?

When a country will not issue a police certificate, start with the Home Affairs location finder entry for that country, which says how that country’s certificate is obtained. After an application is lodged, Home Affairs can ask for more character evidence, including Form 80, Form 1563 Statement of Character or a letter of good conduct from an employer (Character requirements for visas). These add to the character evidence; none of them replaces a certificate Home Affairs requires.

Common mistakes

1. Ordering a state or territory police check. Home Affairs does not accept them; only the AFP certificate counts for Australia (Character requirements for visas).
2. Choosing the wrong AFP purpose. The check must be ordered under Code 33, Immigration/Citizenship (same page).
3. Leaving out former names. The AFP application must include every name you have been known by (same page), and Form 80 asks for the same names at Question 4.
4. A certificate that does not cover the whole period. It must run from age 16 to the issue date, or cover your whole stay in that country (same page).
5. Letting a certificate age out. It is valid for 12 months from issue, and Home Affairs can ask for a new one (same page).
6. Leaving out an old or removed conviction. Form 80 Question 36 asks about any conviction, including one now removed from official records, and false or misleading information can lead Home Affairs to refuse or cancel a visa (Form 80; Character requirements for visas).
7. Assuming the accredited-sponsor reference covers Australia. It replaces overseas certificates only; Australian certificates are still required (Core Skills stream page).

Supplementary: the document checklist, and character as a refusal ground

Police certificates feed the character assessment Home Affairs makes for every 482 applicant it asks. Three rules decide what happens when a certificate shows a charge or conviction:

1. The character test. Section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 sets the character test, which a person fails, for example, with a substantial criminal record as defined in section 501(7).
2. Ministerial Direction No. 110. Officers apply it, weighing the conduct against considerations such as the protection of the Australian community, the best interests of minor children in Australia, the strength of ties to Australia and the impact on family and business.
3. False information. Giving false or misleading information in the application can lead to refusal or cancellation.

The subclass 482 visa document checklist lists the police certificates beside the worker’s other documents, and the guide to 482 visa refusal covers the options after a refusal.

A migration lawyer makes a 482 more likely to succeed here because, where a certificate shows a charge or conviction, Home Affairs assesses it under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 and Ministerial Direction No. 110, which weigh the conduct against factors such as ties to Australia and the best interests of children, and Home Affairs encourages such applicants to provide the relevant documents with the application.