The Disclosure and Barring Service check is a report issued by the authorities in the United Kingdom. It provides information about an individual’s criminal history including the convictions they have received in the past. The report also provides information about any cautions, warnings, or reprimands issued to the individual.
Any individual or business can request a DBS check. They can also request an enhanced DBS check which looks up the said individual on the Children’s Barred List and the Adults First List. These lists contain names of individuals that have been barred to work in fields where they will come in contact with children and vulnerable adults.
The DBS check provides disclosures about any criminal activity that the individual has been engaged in across the United Kingdom and Wales and Scotland. It is recognised by everyone across the UK; however, there are several limitations when it comes to international recognition.
Here are some important things to note about the DBS check’s recognition on an international level –
The DBS check only offers disclosures about the offences committed by an individual in the territory of the United Kingdom. Hence, it is natural that not many countries will deem it an appropriate background check certificate.
A DBS certificate is also sometimes not very well recognised by multinational companies that operate across several nations. They might need several other documents as well along with a DBS check certificate.
If you are a business in the UK but you hire people from all over the world then you need to do a background check on recruits from abroad as well. However, a DBS check will not be sufficient since it will only show the offences committed in the UK.
In such a case, you can find the equivalent of a DBS check in the applicant’s country.
So, if you need to get a similar check done in a different country, then you will need to find an equivalent of the same. Some of the most popular background checks in foreign countries include –
Casier Judiciaire in France
The Casier Judiciaire means a record of good conduct. It is a kind of police check which shows similar information displayed in a DBS check in the UK. This check report, however, is valid for only 12 months from the date of issuing the certificate.
Führungszeugnis in Germany
This is also a check very similar to the DBS check in the UK. It takes about 14 days to get the report and the certificate is valid for about 12 months from the date of issue of the certificate. However, what is important to note is the fact that it only shows offences committed in the past 20 years only. It will not show offences older than that.
