Two documents cause more last-week panic than any essay: the police character certificate and the medical form. Neither is hard. Both depend on offices that do not work to your deadline, and both come back from applicants with a missing stamp, a wrong date or a photo nobody signed. This guide covers which scholarships ask for what, how the police certificate works in Pakistan right now, what the medical forms actually contain, and the mistakes that get files bounced.
One warning first. Pakistan's police certificate system is changing. In August 2026 the federal government approved, in principle, a nationwide online system in which the National Police Bureau issues police clearance certificates. News reports of the decision did not give a launch date. Until your province or the bureau confirms it is live, assume the provincial route described below still applies, and check the official portal before you pay anyone.
Which scholarships ask for a police certificate or a medical form
The names differ. "Police Clearance Certificate", "Police Character Certificate", "non-criminal record" and "police report" often mean the same paper, but the exact wording on the official list decides what you submit. Here is what our scholarship pages list.
| Scholarship | Police certificate | Medical document |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC) | Police Clearance Certificate, from a local police station or NADRA (per our CSC scholarship page) | Foreigner Physical Examination Form, signed and stamped by a registered physician |
| China Silk Road Scholarship | Not in our listed documents | Foreigner Physical Examination Form |
| SWUFE President's Scholarship (China) | Police clearance certificate | Medical forms |
| Shanghai Government Scholarship | Police clearance certificate | Check the official list |
| Saudi Arabia government scholarship | Police Clearance Certificate, listed as a new 2026 requirement, from a Police Khidmat Markaz or police station | Check the official list |
| Islamic University of Madinah | Police Character Certificate with Arabic translation | Check the official list |
| Sri Lanka government scholarship | Police clearance certificate | Check the official list |
| GKS Korea | Not in our listed documents | Personal Medical Assessment form |
| MEXT Japan | Not in our listed documents | Medical certificate in the MEXT-prescribed format, signed by a registered physician |
| Stipendium Hungaricum | Not in our listed documents | Medical fitness certificate (official template) |
| Russian Government Scholarship | Not in our listed documents | Fitness certificate, plus certificates for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis |
Read the table the right way round. "Not in our listed documents" does not mean the university will never ask. It means the scholarship's main checklist does not name it. Universities and embassies add requests later, especially at the visa stage. Treat the official portal as the final word and our pages as a map.
For the full picture of how these fit among your other papers, see the documents checklist for international scholarships. Our guides to the Chinese Government Scholarship and GKS Korea list the full document sets.
How the police character certificate works in Pakistan
Pakistan has no single national police certificate at the moment. District police authorities issue them, and each province has its own procedure. Government guidance from Canada's immigration department says Pakistani citizens living in Pakistan apply through the police system of their province (Islamabad, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan or Punjab), each with its own website. It adds that in Punjab you can apply at any Police Khidmat Markaz, in any district, not just the one the certificate is for, while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in-person processing is the rule and you may need to visit the SSP office.
That matches what Pakistan's own consulates say. The Consulate General in Melbourne, for example, describes a faster online portal for Punjab and Islamabad residents (about 2 to 3 weeks in its account) and a much slower route for other provinces, where requests are forwarded to police authorities in Pakistan and can take months. Those are overseas applicant timings, but the gap between provinces is real, so start early if you live outside Punjab.
The general route looks like this.
- Find the issuing office for your province. In Punjab this is the Police Khidmat Markaz network (the portal is pkm.punjab.gov.pk). For Sindh, KP, Balochistan and Islamabad, check the provincial police or Islamabad Police website, because we could not confirm a current online procedure for each.
- Collect the usual documents. Expect your CNIC, usually a passport copy, passport-size photographs and an application form. Some offices also ask for proof of address. The exact list is on your provincial portal, so use that and not a friend's memory.
- Pay only the official fee and keep the receipt. Fees are shown on the official portal, so you can check them yourself. Our guide to spotting a fake study abroad consultant covers paid shortcuts that go wrong.
- Collect the original, check every detail, and scan it before you hand it to anyone.
Check the spelling of your name, your father's name and your CNIC number against your passport the moment the paper is in your hand. Pakistani applicants lose weeks to one letter that differs between CNIC, passport and degree. Fix it at the counter, not after you have uploaded it.
What China's CSC instructions say about police and medical papers
Several government and university copies of the CSC application instructions are published online, and they agree on two points. First, the non-criminal record certificate is a separate document, issued by the local public security authority and usually dated within 6 months before the application is submitted. Second, applicants planning to stay in China for more than six months need the Foreigner Physical Examination Form in English. The instructions say the form is designed by the Chinese quarantine authority and the examination must cover every item on it. Records that are incomplete, or that lack the physician's signature, the hospital's official stamp or a sealed photograph, are invalid. The result is valid for only 6 months.
Beijing's municipal government guide for foreigners says people aged 16 or older who plan to study or stay a year or longer must have a health examination, the overseas form is valid for six months, and an overseas exam must include lab tests covering at least HIV and syphilis. It also says private-hospital results must be notarized, and Chinese consular certification may be required. Thresholds are stated differently elsewhere, so ask your host university which rule it applies, and read the current CSC instructions on campuschina.org before booking a doctor.
Medical forms for GKS, MEXT, Hungary and Russia
Do not assume you know the tests. Every scholarship uses its own form.
- GKS Korea: the Korean embassy's 2025 graduate notice lists "Personal Medical Assessment" as Form 9, required from all master's, doctoral and research applicants. Form numbers change between years, so take it from the current announcement. Some embassies and universities may ask for a physician-signed paper as well, so confirm with yours.
- MEXT: a medical certificate in the MEXT-prescribed format, signed by a registered physician. Our MEXT page says errors in this format are a common reason for early disqualification.
- Stipendium Hungaricum: a medical certificate of satisfactory health on the official template, which a physician must issue and sign. The programme's FAQ says awardees present it at the compulsory medical examination in Hungary. Its current template says scholarship holders should not upload it to the online system, although a past cycle asked nominated applicants to upload it. Follow the instructions of the year you apply in. The template also asks for a tuberculosis screening and serological tests, and institutions may add health requirements.
- Russian Government Scholarship: after selection, a general fitness certificate, an HIV/AIDS certificate and a certificate for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and tuberculosis.
HIV tests: what official sources actually say
HIV testing appears in two of the processes above, and it is better to know in advance than to be surprised at a clinic.
For Russia, HSE University's admissions page lists three medical certificates for government quota candidates: general fitness, absence of HIV and AIDS, and absence of hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis. Each needs a notarized Russian translation, and the page gives a 12-month validity and says vaccination cards are not accepted. Other Russian universities state different validity periods for the same papers, including shorter ones, so check the university you were allocated, not a general guide.
For China, the Beijing guide says an overseas exam must cover at least HIV and syphilis, as noted above. Stipendium Hungaricum asks for serological tests on its template, and the full list is on the official PDF. Rules on entry and residence belong to the destination country and can change. If you are worried about a result, ask the scholarship office or your doctor before you submit, and do not alter or omit anything on the form.
Validity, translation and attestation
Validity is the quiet killer. The CSC instructions give 6 months for both the non-criminal record and the medical. Russian and Chinese medical papers have their own windows, as shown above. For anything else, count back from the closing date, not from the date you plan to submit. A certificate issued in January can be too old by the time your offer letter arrives in June. The consulate pages we read did not state how long a Pakistani police certificate stays valid, so follow the receiving body's rule.
Translation is set by the receiving country. The Islamic University of Madinah page requires the police character certificate in Arabic, from a certified translator. For Russia, HSE requires notarized Russian translations of its medical certificates.
Attestation is a separate question. The Consulate General in Melbourne says a police certificate obtained directly in Pakistan should be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad or its offices in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar or Quetta, and then counter-attested by the consulate, because Pakistan has no national police certificate. That is one country's requirement. Whether your scholarship wants MOFA attestation depends on the destination and the stage, and the CSC and GKS lists we read do not mention it for police papers. Degrees follow the IBCC and HEC route covered in our IBCC and MOFA attestation guide. If the instruction says nothing about attestation, ask the scholarship office in writing before you pay for it.
Getting the medical form signed and stamped
The form usually sits in your scholarship portal as a download. Print it as issued and do not retype or reformat it. For MEXT, a layout change is exactly the sort of error the page warns about.
- Choose the examiner. Forms say "registered physician" or similar, so use a doctor with valid PMDC registration, preferably at a hospital or clinic with an official stamp. A form from someone with no registration number is the first to be questioned.
- Take the form, your CNIC, your passport and passport-size photos. Many forms need a photo with a stamp overlapping its edge.
- Do the tests listed on your form before the consultation, so the doctor completes it once with results in hand. Keep the lab reports, because forms often ask you to attach them.
- Check every field before you leave. Blank boxes, missing dates and crossed-out text invite a query. Ask for a fresh form rather than scribbled corrections.
- Scan in colour, including stamp edges and any second page.
Why these documents get rejected
| Problem | What it looks like | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Missing stamp or seal | Doctor signed but did not stamp, or the photo has no sealed edge | Check stamp, registration number and photo seal in the scan |
| Expired or wrongly dated | Issued long before the closing date | Read the validity rule and count back from the deadline |
| Wrong format | Own letter instead of the prescribed form | Download the official form and use only that |
| Name mismatch | Spelling differs from passport or CNIC | Check at the counter |
| Untranslated or uncertified | English paper where Arabic or Russian was required | Ask early which language and what certification |
| Incomplete scan | Page two missing, cut edges, photo of a screen | Scan flat, in colour, every page |
None of these is dramatic, and that is why they hurt. A selection committee will not chase you for a stamp. It moves to the next file. Our guide on student visa rejection reasons for Pakistani students shows the same pattern at the embassy.
A document-by-document checklist
- Read the official document list and write down the exact name of each paper.
- Note validity rules and the closing date, and work out the latest issue date.
- Apply for the police certificate through your province's official channel and keep the receipt.
- Check name, father's name and CNIC number against your passport.
- Download the official medical form and do not retype it.
- Book a registered physician and do the tests the form lists.
- Check signature, stamp, registration number, date and photo before leaving the clinic.
- Ask whether translation or attestation is needed, and in what language.
- Scan in colour, keep the originals safe, and make a second set of copies.
Frequently asked questions
Is a police character certificate the same as a police clearance certificate?
Usually yes in practice, but the name on the official list is what matters. Ask the issuing office for the version that matches and say it is for foreign study.
Can I get one from NADRA?
The CSC listing on our scholarship page says a Police Clearance Certificate can come from a local police station or NADRA. We could not confirm a NADRA route on an official police portal, so check with the issuing office and the scholarship instructions before relying on it.
How much does it cost and how long does it take?
It depends on the province and is changing, so we will not quote a figure. Check your provincial police portal for the current official fee and time, as of 2026, and apply well before your deadline. Applicants outside Punjab should allow extra time.
Does the police certificate need MOFA attestation?
Only if the scholarship or embassy says so. One Pakistani consulate describes MOFA attestation for certificates used in its country, but that is not a universal rule. Ask the scholarship office if the instructions are silent.
Can any doctor sign the medical form?
Your scholarship decides. CSC and MEXT say registered physician, and the CSC instructions say the hospital's official stamp is needed. Use a doctor with a valid PMDC registration who adds a stamp and registration number, and check the form for any designated-hospital rule.
What if my medical report shows a condition?
Do not hide it or change the form. Ask the doctor to record it honestly and read the scholarship's health rules. For anything serious, ask the scholarship office before you submit.
Start these two early
Begin the police certificate and the medical once your shortlist is clear, but not so early that the dates go stale. Then read each paper against the official list, as a reviewer would. If you are still building your shortlist, start from our scholarships guide for Pakistani students. Official sources used here include HSE University admissions, the Beijing municipal health exam guide, the Stipendium Hungaricum FAQ and the Consulate General of Pakistan, Melbourne.