An international background check is likely to take longer than a domestic check. Expect five days to three weeks for an international background check. Background investigations in some countries might come through sooner, and a few could take longer.
Some parts of the international background check also may be returned faster than others.
Why the wide discrepancy? You’re dealing with a far greater mix of laws and rules internationally than you are domestically, even considering the differences in laws from state to state in the U.S. In some countries, privacy laws are stricter, also slowing the process. Other countries, and not only totalitarian states, are nearly closed to outside requests for information, so background information there can be limited and, at best, slow to obtain. And then there are differences in languages and cultural institutions to overcome.
Some conditions affecting international background checks would appear to be odd to U.S. customers. Examples are an extra half-hour for lunch in France, and a two-hour siesta starting at 2 p.m. in Mexico (except Mexico City) and in many other warm-climate countries. In many areas of Greece, for example, a break occurs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, with closings typical from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
Another delay can result from regulations more complicated than in the U.S. For example, for a U.S. employer to order a professionally done background check on a citizen of any country in the European Union, it first must obtain three signed forms:
A U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act disclosure.
A U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act authorization.
A European Union Data Transfer consent.
At Global Backgrounds, a professional background check company, our experts on staff know international laws, understand the differences in laws and cultures, and know how to work with them.
Personal Credit Report
Time needed: 10-15 business days
An international credit report can take longer than a domestic report because laws protecting consumers vary widely by country.
An international personal credit report, which demonstrates fiscal responsibility, should be ordered for job applicants who:
Live or have lived in foreign countries.
Work or have worked in foreign countries.
Spend or have spent significant time in foreign countries.
Own or have owned property or a business in a foreign country.
Have a spouse or partner who spends significant time overseas.
In most cases, an international personal credit report will have to be done through foreign sources. A professional background investigator will know how to do that. It wouldn’t be unusual for a foreign government to require permission before the check is conducted, and obtaining permission is needed for a U.S. company doing the check for hiring purposes.
It’s now possible for immigrants to have their international credit scores transferred to a U.S. credit-rating company, which can speed up foreign credit history background checks. The incentive for immigrants to do so is that they’ll have an easier time obtaining credit in the U.S. It will also ease their job searches.
Even if immigrants don’t transfer the information, there are international databases containing foreign credit histories. A civil records check also can turn up information on disputes that might signal credit concerns — an unpaid domestic servant, perhaps, or a private contractor who claims money is owed.
Business Credit Report
Time needed: 5-10+ business days
An international business credit report comes into play when:
A U.S. company is considering a foreign company as a significant trading partner.
A U.S. company is considering extending temporary credit on purchases to a foreign company.
A candidate for a job with a U.S. company has considerable experience with the finances or performance of a foreign company.
Any candidate has owned a business in another country.
An international business credit report should be the first step in considering doing business with a foreign-owned company, or in hiring someone who played a significant role in that company’s operation. It’s also key in obtaining payment insurance on an international client.
An international business credit report will uncover such problems as late payments, nonpayments, excessive debt, the amount of payments in arrears, and the likelihood that a foreign company will soon go bankrupt.
Civil Records Report (local level)
Time needed: 10-15 business days
A search of civil court records in a foreign country may turn up concerns about a potential employee. Civil courts are usually run on a local level but sometimes are on a state level. They reveal court proceedings that do not involve crimes. That means there are no jail sentences.
Don’t think court cases that are not criminal are less important. Examples of civil court activity include divorces and all the financial machinations that accompany a breakup. They also can show claims by private people or private entities for money owed. Disputes with private contractors would show up in civil court. Civil court records also would reveal whether liens have been placed on a property the job candidate owns in that country, or whether income or holdings have been garnished.
Any non-adjudicated cases — cases still awaiting trial or another outcome — also would show in civil court records.
Perhaps as valuable as its potential to show a single problem is the possibility that an international civil court search would show an undesirable pattern — repeated abuse allegations, for example, or numerous disputes with contractors or domestic servants.
Criminal Records Search
Time needed: 10-20+ business days
Local-level criminal courts reveal a good deal about a job candidate in a foreign country, just as they do in a domestic background search.
It’s important to remember, however, that U.S. laws may dictate how much searching an employer may order and how the employer may consider the data in its employment decisions. If an international candidate interviews in the U.S., laws in the state where the interview takes place and federal laws apply. That means charges without convictions might not be included in employment decisions, and in states with ban-the-box laws, no questions on criminal history may be asked and no check may be ordered until after a conditional job offer is made.
On top of that, the foreign country where the background is being checked might have limitations on court data. The more restrictive the rules, the longer the search would take.
When criminal background checks are not available in a nation, some employers or the company that does their background searches requires an international job candidate to obtain a certificate verifying their criminal convictions or lack of them. While not available to the public, these results are available to the individual. The background search company then verifies the certificate.
Federal Criminal Background Checks
Time needed: 5-10 business days
In some countries, criminal databases are kept by federal agencies or federal courts. In others, regional or local courts keep criminal records. In some countries the local criminal records are not automated. This requires manual checking, which can add considerable time to the background check. And in some, the information is not released to third parties. A professional background investigator, such as Global Backgrounds, can navigate these choppy legal waters.
One country with a national crime database, Canada, sends thousands of workers to the U.S. every year. The criminal backgrounds of Canadians can be searched against the Canadian Police Information Centre, run by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The check might take only minutes if the job candidate’s record is clean, and as much as a day if it isn’t. It’s about as fast as an international criminal background check can be.
Warning: Some countries with a central criminal database are not as efficient. Where a country does not allow third parties to search criminal records, it’s useful to require the applicant to obtain a certificate of criminal record, and then have a background check company verify that the certificate is legitimate.
Education Verification
Time needed: 10-20+ business days
Education is verified by contacting the school from which the candidate graduated, or any schools the candidate attended. The schools might release degrees earned, although degrees at foreign schools do not always equate to those in the U.S. The schools might release the graduate’s grade point average, but more than likely they will not release information on majors, minors and honors achieved.
What can lengthen a search is a school’s changing its name, which isn’t uncommon. Locating the school may take time in such a case.
Where foreign colleges and universities do not release information on graduates and students, employers can require the international job candidate to obtain an official transcript or confirmation of degrees earned. They also can ask the candidate to have the documents mailed directly to the employer’s hiring officer.
Employment History Verification
Time needed: 10-20+ business days
This is done through electronic databases or pretty much the old-fashioned way: Calls are made to the human resources offices of the companies that the job candidates say employed them. The more open the companies are, the faster the check will be. The more employers listed, the longer the check will take.
Employment history is often an area where job applicants make misrepresentations, from exaggerations to outright lies. That means the employment history check remains important, especially in foreign nations where U.S. employers may not have the contacts that they have domestically.
Employment verification these days is just that: an acknowledgment of the dates a person worked for the company. The former employer might also release job titles. Many companies will not discuss a former employee’s job performance.
Driving Records
Time needed: 10-15 business days
Driving records are much less accessible in many foreign countries than in the U.S., where they show up in local court records.
The best way to obtain a foreign driving record when candidates hail from countries that don't share records with third parties is to have the job candidates request their own records from their home country or the country where they live or work. Car2go, a German vehicle-sharing company with U.S. locations, requires this of people wanting to share its vehicles. It publishes a comprehensive list of where foreign nationals can obtain their own driving records.
Some countries have online services for driver requests; others require a written letter.
For answers regarding domestic or international background checks, contact us at Global Backgrounds.