Criminal Record Expungement

Don’t live with a dark cloud over your head, start with a clean slate.

Struggling to find work? Unable to travel or emigrate? Many upstanding and highly regarded South Africans find themselves in a similar predicament due to a conviction for some or other petty offence committed during their early adult years.

Our criminal record expungement service simplifies the journey to a record-free life. If it’s been 10 years or more since your minor crime conviction, give us a call today.

What does Expungement of a Criminal Record mean?

Expungement of a criminal record is a process by which a criminal record of a convicted offender is expunged from the criminal record database at the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service.

This allows a person to carry on with life without a criminal record being an obstruction to employment opportunities.

What are the benefits to you?

Start a new record-free life
Be more employable and enjoy increased employment opportunities
Once your record has been expunged, you’ll be able to enjoy real freedom and apply for travel visas to visit many international destinations.

Why should you let the Experts do it?

The South African expungement process is a complex legal process. It is not only essential that the appropriate documents are filed properly, but that the many legal intricacies are thoroughly addressed in the appropriate manner, otherwise it is highly likely that your expungement application will be denied by the Department of Justice.

How can govdocsmadesimple help you?

With years of experience, a fast and effective service we offer clients the opportunity to remove minor, non-malicious offences from an individual’s criminal record permanently and quickly, through a fully legal process supported by both the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Justice.

Our expertise will optimize your chances at a successful expungement process.

At GDMSs we guarantee:

A turn-around time of between 6-8 weeks, compared to 4 months if you do it yourself at SAPS
Everything we do gets done via email and courier no need to visit the office.

How does it work?

Simply provide us with information detailing the offence you want expunged, as well as your personal identity information, and we will submit an expungement request to the Administrator of Criminal Records and SAPS. Within a few days, and after an identity verification process, the offence is removed from a person’s permanent criminal record.

What you need to know?

All applications for expungement of criminal records in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977, are to be submitted to the Director General: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development as prescribed in Part I of the relevant application form.

The criteria which need to be met to potentially qualify for a clearance are listed below:

A period of 10 years has passed after the date of the conviction for that offence, and there has been no subsequent conviction(s)`
You received a sentence where you were either imprisoned from Friday 18:00 to Sunday 18:00, or a community-based sentence.
You have not been sentenced and jailed for any other offence during those 10 years, without the option of a fine.
You were sentenced to the following sentence:
- Minor crimes
- Politically motivated crimes; these are crimes where there is “political or ideological intention or motivation to cause harm”.
Your conviction was based on your race.
You were convicted of an offence which would democratically be considered as a minor or no offence.
You were given the option of paying a fine (R20,000 or less)
You were advised that paying a fine would not result in a criminal record, but have subsequently discovered the existence of your criminal record

You will not qualify for clearance if the following occurs:

You were sentenced to direct imprisonment.
When a fine of more than R20 000 was imposed.
You were condemned of a sexual transgression against a child or a mentally-challenged person.
Your name appears in the National Register for sex offenders or the National Child Protection Register, unless it has been removed from the National Register.
Serious cases incarceration without the option of a fine.
Serious cases where the sentence is one of imprisonment without the option of a fine for example robbery, rape, murder and assault with the intention to do grievous bodily harm.