Singapore Police Clearance Certificate (COC) Apostille and Attestation

The Certificate of Clearance (COC) is the Singapore Police Force's certificate that a person has no criminal conviction in Singapore. SPF issues it only for use overseas, and only when a foreign authority or institution requires one.

That second point surprises people. You cannot apply for a COC "just in case" or for a Singapore employer. SPF lists the accepted purposes as overseas migration, adoption, employment or business, education, and other requirements of foreign governments or institutions. Singapore's overseas missions add that applicants should be able to show documentary proof from the relevant authority that a COC is needed, for example for marriage, employment or migration.

Who can apply, according to SPF at the time of writing:

• Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents and non-citizens who have lived, worked or studied in Singapore for at least six continuous months
• aged 16 or above
• former residents who held a FIN can also apply, using scanned fingerprints if they no longer have Singpass access

SPF states a processing time of 7 to 14 days from receipt of a complete application, and a processing fee of S$55. Incomplete applications take longer, so fill in your address and employment history carefully.

We do not apply for the COC on your behalf; the application is yours, made through SPF's e-service. We take over once the certificate is issued.

Since 6 January 2025 the COC is fully digital. Successful applicants receive an email and download the certificate from the FileSG portal; SPF no longer issues hard copies or duplicates. SAL legalises a printout of the digital COC directly, as a Singapore government document.

SAL's guidance on COCs is specific: print the digitally issued COC before submission, and include the page carrying the QR code. All text, images and the QR code must be clear. Because the COC is a government document, no notary is needed and SAL's public-document fee of S$10.70 applies at the time of writing.

Printing checklist before SAL

• Print the complete certificate, not just the first page, with margins wide enough that nothing at the edges is cut off
• Include the QR code page, and test the code with your phone
• Use a good printer; faded or pixelated text can be refused
• Keep it clean: a stamp or note from anyone other than SPF counts as an alteration
• Need COCs for two countries? Print two copies; each printout is legalised separately

Keep the original PDF. Because SPF no longer issues duplicates, the file you downloaded from FileSG is the one you will reprint if a receiver asks again.

If the destination is a Hague Convention member, the SAL apostille is normally all your COC needs. If it is not — the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia, Egypt and several other regional states — the apostilled COC goes to that country's embassy in Singapore, and often to its foreign ministry after arrival.

For the wider question of apostille versus embassy, see our SAL apostille page; the embassy chain itself is on our embassy attestation page. For COCs specifically, these are the cases we see most:

That last row matters. Several migration authorities receive police certificates online and verify them themselves. Paying for an apostille they did not ask for is money wasted. Read the checklist, and if it does not mention legalisation or an apostille, ask the receiver before booking anything.

Some receivers want the COC translated, and then want the translation itself legalised, not just the original. In that case the translation is signed before a Singapore notary, SAL authenticates the notary's certificate, and the original COC is apostilled separately.

China is the clearest example. One of our clients needed their COC translated into Chinese, the translation notarised, and apostilles on both the translation and the original COC. That means two SAL legalisations: S$10.70 for the COC as a government document and S$87.20 for the notarised translation, at the time of writing, plus the translation and notary fees.

Order matters. The translation should be made from the final version of the COC you will submit, and the translator's declaration enters the chain through the notary. In our experience, getting the sequence wrong is the usual reason a correctly translated COC is still returned. Our translation attestation service sets the order for each country.

Costs, line by line

• SAL apostille on the COC: from S$29, including SAL's S$10.70 fee
• Embassy attestation, if needed: from S$99 per document, plus the embassy fee at cost
• Translation, if needed: from S$22 per page
• Notarised translation, if needed: from S$219, including SAL's S$87.20 authentication fee

The prices shown above are starting prices. Your final price depends on the document type, number of pages and destination country, and will be confirmed in a written quotation before any work begins.

There is no single answer: the receiving country or institution decides how old a COC it will accept, and many set a window of a few months from the date of issue. Check that window before you apply, and plan the legalisation inside it.

The timing trap is real. A COC takes up to two weeks to issue; SAL, any translation and any embassy add more time; and then the file has to reach the destination office. If the receiver counts from the COC's issue date, a slow embassy step can push your certificate out of date before it is lodged.

To avoid that:

1. Confirm the receiver's validity rule in writing, and whether it counts from issue date or legalisation date.
2. Apply for the COC only when your other documents are ready.
3. Send us the COC the day it is issued so SAL and the embassy happen immediately.
4. Ask about translation in advance, so it is not added at the end.

We cannot speed up SPF, SAL or any embassy, and we will not promise a date that depends on them. We can make sure no time is lost between steps.