Most businesses in the UK, whatever their size, will come across the specific challenges posed by hiring someone who is either not from the UK, or who has lived outside the UK for an extended period. Working out how to run DBS checks on these people can be tricky. Non-UK Criminality Checks, also known as International Criminality Checks, are the only way for an employer to look at any criminal history beyond the United Kingdom.
There are many different terms used to describe these sorts of criminal records checks which are done outside the UK, including Overseas Criminal Checks, or International Criminal Checks.
Why Do We Need an Overseas Criminality Check?
In many UK industries, DBS checks are legally required to safeguard vulnerable groups in society. DBS checks are simple to obtain but can only ever access information from within the UK. For candidates who have lived abroad, employers have to work out a way of obtaining a criminal record check from their previous countries of residence. Usually, “living abroad” is defined as a single period of six months or more.
Getting Overseas Criminality Checks
The bad news when it comes to recruiting people who have lived overseas is that there is no one, standard process for getting an overseas criminal records check. Each country has its own processes and laws and navigating these can be challenging. There is information on the government’s website about the system in each country of the world. For example, people who have lived in the USA will need a criminal history record issued by the FBI centrally, whereas those from Switzerland will deal with local authorities through their nearest Post Office. Some countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq, have no process for criminal records checks.
Fees and timescales for processing criminal records checks can very hugely depending on the infrastructure of the country you might be dealing with. Employers may also ask for a document to be Apostilled, which is a process involving an official seal to prove a document is genuine, or to have it officially translated if it is in a language other than English.
Advantages of Running International Criminal Records Checks
Given that getting criminal records and certificates from countries across the world is convoluted and awkward, why do companies bother? In many cases, it’s down to legal obligation. The main reasons to ask for criminal records checks on every applicant are:
- Legal Compliance: In many industries such as education, finance, healthcare, and for government contracts, criminal record checks are legal requirements.
- Security: Identifying potential threats or risks from individuals with a criminal history abroad against the business or colleagues.
- Prevention of Fraud: Identifying people with a history of fraudulent activities in other countries. Of particular interest for positions involving handling accounts or cash.
There is lots of advice online about managing an international criminal records checking process. It will take more time and effort than using the DBS process which we are all used to, but is essential when dealing with people who have lived outside the UK.
