International Criminal Record Check
International Criminal Checks provide insight into whether a candidate has a criminal record in the countries where you need to screen. These checks return official information from the relevant national authority or court system, where available.
In this article
- Details about International Criminal Checks
- Ordering this check
- Stages of this check
- Candidate experience
- Next steps
Details about International Criminal Checks
International Criminal Checks allow you to run official criminal record searches in selected countries. Clients can choose one or more countries when ordering. These checks may include:
- Confirmation of whether official criminal record information exists
- Court-sourced information such as offences, dates, and outcomes (where disclosed)
- Certificate numbers or additional documents (where provided by the issuing authority)
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Note: Availability and the level of detail returned vary by country. Some countries provide official certificates or structured results, while others provide limited or high-level information based on legal restrictions. Countries that do not support a legitimate criminal record search are not available in the country list. For these jurisdictions, we recommend using our Risk Insight Bundle to support your risk-management process. |
Supported regions
Certn supports criminal record checks in all 175 countries that offer a legitimate criminal record search. This list includes:
Available Countries
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia (AFP)
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bermuda
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Brunei Darussalam
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada (Basic)
- Cape Verde
- Cayman Islands
- Central African Republic
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Congo, Democratic Republic of the (Congo Kinshasa)
- Costa Rica
- Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czechia (Czech Republic)
- Denmark
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Islamic Republic of Iran
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya)
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macao
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Northern Ireland
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia (Russian Federation)
- Rwanda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Swaziland
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania, United Republic of
- Thailand
- Togo
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- United Kingdom (DBS Basic)
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Specialist Criminal Checks (to be ordered separately)
- United States - SSN Trace
- United States - County Criminal Court
- United States - Federal Criminal Court
- United States - Criminal Database
- United States - National Sex Offender Registry
Unavailable countries
Countries without an official or reliable criminal record source do not appear in the ordering list.
For these countries, clients may order a Risk Insight Bundle as an alternative.
- American Samoa
- Anguilla
- Aruba
- Bhutan
- British Virgin Islands
- Chad
- Christmas Island
- Comoros
- Congo, Republic of the (Congo Brazzaville)
- Cook Islands
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Federated States of Micronesia
- French Guiana
- French Polynesia
- Guadeloupe
- Guam
- Guernsey
- Guinea Bissau
- Guyana
- Isle of Man
- Jersey
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Laos (Lao People's Democratic Rep)
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Martinique
- Mauritania
- Mayotte
- Montserrat
- Nauru
- Netherlands Antilles
- New Caledonia
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Palau
- Puerto Rico
- Saint Martin
- Saint Vincent and Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Seychelles
- Solomon Islands
- South Sudan
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- US Virgin Islands
- Vanuatu
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
Note: Country availability may change as new sources or capabilities become available. Check back for updates.
Order this check
To order an International Criminal Check, you must have the candidate’s email address.
To order:
- To get started, select ‘New Order’ in the top right hand corner and then ‘Build Your Own’.
- Select the Criminal Record Check card.
- Use the country menu to select one or more countries. A type-ahead search is available.
- Review your selections in the Order Summary. You’ll see the total cost for all chosen countries.
- Submit the order and send the invitation to your candidate.
Important ordering guidance
- Only order checks for countries where the applicant has lived.
The International Criminal Check requires the applicant to provide an address for each country ordered.
If the applicant has never lived in a selected country:
- They will be unable to complete their application,
- The check will result in no usable information, and
- It may cause unnecessary delays.
For this reason, clients should only select countries that genuinely apply to the applicant’s residence history.
- US Criminal Checks must be ordered separately. The US Criminal Check is not included in the International Criminal Check card.
If you need to run both an International Criminal Check and a US Criminal Check on the same applicant, please order the US Criminal Check independently from its dedicated card.
This check can be added as a standalone check or bundled with packages. For more information on ordering, see our Order checks article.
Turnaround time
Turnaround times can vary significantly by country and by the authority responsible for the criminal record search. Typical ranges include:
- 1–15 business days, depending on the jurisdiction
- Some countries may take longer due to local processing requirements.
| Note: These timelines are estimates and not guaranteed. Delays may occur depending on third-party response times, local holidays, or additional verification steps required by an issuing authority. |
Stages of this check
Order
You place an order for the International Criminal Check and select the required countries.
Application
The candidate receives an email invitation and completes the required information in the Applicant Portal.
Processing
Certn retrieves criminal record data from the appropriate criminal record body.
Results
Check results are shared in the Client Portal and with the candidate through the Applicant Portal.
Candidate experience
When you order an International Criminal Record Check, the candidate receives an email inviting them to complete an online form. They’ll be asked to provide:
- Consent and authorization
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Address history (current address, plus one address per ordered country)
- Some jurisdictions require identity verification or additional documentation. If additional steps are needed, the candidate will be guided through them during their application.
If a required country check can’t be completed because the candidate has never lived there, the application can’t move forward. In this case, the client will need to cancel the request and submit a new one without that country. The client will not be charged for the submitted Criminal Check(s). We’re working on resolving this limitation in an upcoming product update.
Candidates may also be asked to upload supporting documents such as a passport or, where available, a criminal record certificate.
Next steps
Once the candidate submits their information:
- The check is processed by Certn and data is retrieved from the appropriate authority.
- You can view the application and the check results in the Client Portal.
Learn more about managing your cases in the Manage your cases Help article.