Overseas criminal records may be available to employers or individuals upon direct application to foreign providers of criminal background information.

The relevant foreign embassy should be contacted to provide further advice on how these may be obtained. Details for embassies in the UK can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth website , telephone 020 7008 1500.

For up to date information on the cost of an enquiry to a particular country’s representative, please see the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website using the link provided above.

Please note: The CRB is not involved in the processing of applications made by individuals to overseas authorities and therefore will not be responsible for the contents or the length of time taken for the information to be returned.

However, in a small number of cases overseas criminal records are also held on the Police National Computer and these would be revealed as part of a CRB check.