Where to get fingerprints taken in Perth for police clearances

If you need fingerprints taken for an overseas police clearance, don't bother queuing at your local police station. A post on r/perth this week is a reminder that WA Police no longer offer the service, and it's catching new migrants out.

The poster said they needed prints for Canadian and South African police clearances as part of an Australian citizenship application. They tried three police stations before Northbridge police handed them the card of a private fingerprinting business in North Perth, which also helped with the paperwork.

Police stopped years ago

This isn't new. In 2015 the then Department of Immigration and Border Protection confirmed in correspondence published by Migration Alliance that the Australian Federal Police had stopped fingerprinting the public and that "in Western Australia the Police have also withdrawn from providing fingerprinting services".

BMW

The BMW X5. Luxury that goes anywhere.

Commanding presence, a beautifully built cabin and the confidence to handle the school run, the city and the open road with equal ease. The SUV that does it all.

Learn more

The department said it does not take fingerprints on behalf of other countries, and that applicants should contact the relevant embassy, consulate or agency that needs them.

What Perth people are doing instead

Commenters said several private fingerprinting providers operate in Perth, and another user who went through the citizenship process said the North Perth business was "really across everything". Countries such as Canada still require original ink prints on paper rather than digital scans, the poster said.

Not everyone was thrilled. One commenter questioned handing fingerprints to a private company, while another joked that you just need to "include what crime was committed" to get the police to take them.

Before booking, check exactly what format the country issuing your clearance wants, and allow time for posting originals overseas.

Sources: r/perth, Migration Alliance (Department of Immigration and Border Protection correspondence, November 2015).

Photo: Bosancica by MK via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped. File photo of a fingerprinting exercise, not taken in Perth.