A process that earlier took three months frequently and longer in some cases can now be completed in ten days in the state of Maharashtra, India. Indian nationals and other residents of India often need a police clearance certificate when seeking immigration benefits or employment in other countries. The police department has indicated that they hitherto processed about 6,000 applications each month. Getting these certificates involved at least two onerous steps. Now the Government of Maharashtra has announced that these certificates will be issued in ten days and invoke a simple online application followed by a visit to the local police state at the place of residence. Once these are completed and verified by the Special Branch of the Mumbai Police's intelligence wing of the Maharashtra Police as the case may be, the certificate is generated online. To facilitate the application and verification each applicant is required to provide his/her cellphone number. This is generally not a problem because cell phone usage in India is widespread. However, there is no clarity on whether an agent can provide his/her cellphone number if the agent is helping the applicant with the process. Watch this space for further details about this as they become available.

Please note that this police clearance certificate is different from the one issued by the regional Passport Offices. Also, it is important to remember that some countries require one certificate over the other and yet other countries may require both these certificates.

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