How long does it take to obtain a UK ACRO certificate and how do I obtain it?

Question

I’d like to know how long people have had to wait for their ACRO?

Answers

This article has been updated in July 2023. Please read the article update at the bottom.

These are the answers of some Facebook group members:

“My acro came back within a week but I’m still waiting for a reply from the embassy in London.”

“On the gov. website it says 12 days but it’s been over 2 weeks for me and nothing”

“Ours was very quick just 4 days. 13th Jan 2023 they were sent, got an email the same day to say they had received them. On the 16th they emailed to say they were done and we got them back on the 17th.”

“2 days”

“There are two types of service for the acro, express and ten days”

“Ours took about a week”

“Mine was about 14 days but it was just before Xmas when the strikes were happening”

“Mine was super quick and this was only a week ago. It took 4 days, but then I also had to send it to the apostile when it come back which added another week.”

“Within 1 week, but get it apostilled” (Spainguru recommends Hague Apostilles expedited apostille services in the UK)

“There is a 12 working day service and a 4 working day service. Obviously it’s possible that you get it sooner.”

“Mine came after 4 weeks, and I did not get a confirmation email.”

“Mine arrived after11 days. My husband’s arrived 3 weeks later! In both cases they emailed to say it had been posted. His was posted the day before mine.”

Updated article (July 2023)

Unfortunately, after a cyber attack, the ACRO platform was taken down. To obtain your ACRO certificate just go to https://www.acro.police.uk/s/ where you will have to complete an online form and submit it by email to policecertificateapp@acro.police.uk

FAQs

How long will my Certificate take to process?
Currently Police Certificate applications can take up 30 days to process (July 2023). Excluding the delivery of the certificate.

Can I apply for an expedited service?
We are currently unable to provide any expedited service for any of our products. Your application will be dealt with in time and date order of it being received.

Can I have an emailed certificate?
All certificates are posted; we are unable to email you a copy of your certificate.