For the purpose of processing a UK DBS check I had to acquire a Police Clearance Certificate from Oman a few weeks back.

To do this, we visited the ROP Headquarters opposite Bank Muscat in Qurum. At the entrance we were not permitted to enter with our car and were told we needed to park across the road near Bank Muscat. So, after parking there, we took a deep breath and crossed multiple busy roads with a toddler. Thankfully there were pedestrian crossings here.

The application cost 20 OMR. I filled in the application form (which was available in English) and showed my passport and resident card. The service was prompt and there was no need for a photo or fingerprints (although these are mentioned on the webpage). I assume they had these details on their system already.

We were almost good to go, but then I noticed at the bottom of the certificate it states: “to use abroad – should be authenticated by the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs”. From prior experience (we had had our marriage certificate attested upon first arriving in Muscat) and from what another applicant at the ROP told us, we knew that the attestation would cost 10 OMR. Me being me, I did not want to risk it and wanted to cover all my bases. So as reluctant as I was, I was prepared to spend another 10 OMR if it meant not having to worry in London about not having what I needed.

Off we went to the Ministry, only to find it had already closed, and we had missed it by minutes. The timings on the door were 8:00am – 12:00pm. This meant that the timings on Google were incorrect – big surprise. Behind us there were others approaching who would also come to the same disappointing realisation. The addition of an afternoon slot would make life a lot easier for some. DH had kindly taken the afternoon off from work to help me with this but disappointingly, for the both of us, this task was left incomplete by the end of the day.

The following morning I trekked there myself with CB (sling, pushchair, car seat and all) by taxi. The upside was that on the female side there was no queue. I took a ticket from the machine and waited to be called to the counter, which was a matter of seconds. The downside was that the attestation cost turned out to be 20 OMR, not 10 OMR as originally thought. The person at the counter told me I needed two stamps, costing 10 OMR each.

I think it is safe to assume that most people would see this is an extortionate amount to pay. The total came to 40 OMR, which is roughly the equivalent of £80. To be fair, even though these certificates/checks have cost less for me for other countries, the price of same-day processing in these countries is probably similar (which is sort of the service I received in Oman). That doesn’t change the fact that it is too much. Surely the actual cost of processing these certificates, in any country, is not anywhere in the region of these prices. Not to mention all the running around I had to do just to…but I’ll stop there before I get into an even longer rant.

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I hope, if you ever find yourself in this situation, reading this blogpost makes the process of obtaining your certificate that little bit easier.