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Available. Citizens of Yugoslavia may obtain police certificates (Policijsko uverenje or uverenje) from the Secretariat for Internal Affairs (SUP-Sekretarijat unutrasnjih poslova) at a person's permanent residence. The police certificate documents whether the applicant has been convicted of any crimes and the articles of law involved. NOTE : A second party, such as the Embassy, may not request police certificates on individuals to independently verify someone's background. Consul must rely on certificates requested by the individual in person. The potential for fraudulent documentation exists, and cannot be encountered through separate official means of verification. (End NOTE ).
Application for a police certificate should be submitted to the police authority at the applicant's place of residence. People who reside in the same district where they were born will have the fastest service, as all civil records are maintained at the citizen's place of birth. For citizens born in a different district from where they reside, the police authority will request information from the person's town of birth, and the response time will vary. Based on input from the place of birth, police at the place of residence will issue the final official version of the certificate. Regardless, every citizen should be able to obtain this certificate. At present, this certificate is available at a minimum cost, (approximately $.25).
This certificate should not be confused with the certificates issued by courts (Sudsko uverenje) that cover only the period of the past six months and indicate the absence of any investigation, charge or conviction in that period. The police certificate is comprehensive and automatically covers from birth.
Citizen records are indexed by the family name of the citizens, but they can be accessed by the unique registry number assigned each citizen, much like the U.S. social security number. The purge procedure of records is unknown.
According to the Ministry of Interior, non-citizens who once resided in Yugoslavia, and are now in their native country, may apply for police certificates with their local Ministry of Foreign affairs who will then, through diplomatic channels, contact the Embassy of Yugoslavia in that country.
Non-citizens who once resided in Yugoslavia, and are in a third country now, may apply with their Embassy in that country, who will then, through diplomatic channels, contact the Embassy of Yugoslavia. |
