Kenyans applying for Police Clearance Certificates will now have six months to present themselves for biometrics after making payment, Huduma Kenya has announced.
In a notice on Thursday, September 10, Huduma Kenya said payments for the Certificate of Good Conduct will now expire after six months.
The agency also clarified that once the certificate has been processed, it will remain available for download and printing for six months.
“Usually, payment expires after six months, and once the certificate has been processed, it is also available for download for six months,” the agency stated.
A sample of a Police Clearance Certificate (Certificate of Good Conduct)
File
The clarification followed an inquiry from a citizen who said he had paid for the service in December 2025 but had not yet gone for biometric capture, asking whether his payment was still valid.
The latest announcement means applicants now have six months from the date of payment to present themselves for biometric capture, while processed certificates can also be downloaded and printed within the same period.
Previously, applicants who had paid for a Certificate of Good Conduct but had not yet gone for fingerprint capture could still use their original payment as long as it was less than one year old.
Under the latest clarification, applicants who paid for the service but have not completed the process may need to follow up before the six-month payment window expires.
Once a certificate has been processed, it remains available for download for six months before it becomes invalid.
Applicants who have not received an SMS or email notification have been advised to follow up with the office where their fingerprints were captured to know the progress of their application.
The new rules come weeks after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) unveiled a new biometric capture system, the Multi-Biometric Identification System (MBIS), a platform that integrates fingerprint, palmprint, and facial recognition into a single secure database, aimed at enhancing criminal investigations and improving service delivery.
Under this new system, Kenyans applying for Good Conduct Certificates can now get the document within one day, cutting the 14-day waiting period that has been the case for years.
Citizens lining up for Huduma Centre Services in Mombasa
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Public Service Commission
