Your Guide To Garda Vetting For Students
Why is Garda Vetting required?
Vetting is needed to protect children and vulnerable adults by ensuring that anyone working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults have a clean criminal record. It is a child protection measure that helps assess the suitability of individuals working with children or vulnerable adults.
How do I know if I need to be vetted?
Some courses require students to complete work experience as part of their studies. Your City of Dublin FET College will let you know when you commence your course if you need to be vetted for work experience.
How do I apply for Garda Vetting?
Your City of Dublin FET College will give you a Vetting Invitation Form (NVB1) to complete. If you are under 18 years of age you will also be given a Parent/Guardian Consent Form (NVB3) that your parent/guardian will need to fill in.
Please fill in the form using block capital letters and pay special attention when filling in your email address, especially if it contains numbers that look like letters. For example, the number 0 can be mistaken for the letter O, the number 5 for the letter S, the number 1 for the letter I.
If your handwriting is not clear, your form will be returned to your college, and you will have to send in a new application causing delays.
Identification and Proof of Address
You will need to provide your college with photographic identification (ID) and proof of your current address from the lists below.
Applicants over 18 years of age
If you are over 18 years of age you must provide at least one document from List 1 and one document from List 2 below:
List 1: Photo Identification:
1. Passport from country of citizenship
2. Irish Driving Licence or Learner Permit (new credit card format)
3. Irish Certificate of Naturalisation
4. National Identity Card (EU/EEA/Swiss Citizens only)
List 2: Proof of Address: document must be dated within the last 6 months
1. Bank statement from a recognised bank (not private money lenders or Revolut)
2. Credit Union Statement
3. Credit Union Passbook
4. Utility Bill (gas, electricity, television, broadband, waste or TV licence. Mobile phone bills are not accepted)
5. Correspondence from one of the 18 Government departments. You can find a list at this link List of Government Departments
6. Correspondence from Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI)
7. Letter from Local Council confirming residency
Applicants under 18 years of age
If you are under 18 years of age and do not have the documentation outlined above, two documents from the below group must be submitted one of which must be your birth certificate:
1. Birth Certificate
2. Passport from a country of citizenship
3. Written statement by a school principal confirming attendance (on school letterhead)
Only the above documents can be accepted, no other forms of ID are valid for vetting purposes.
Important: You must bring the originals of your documents in person to your college, photographs or copies of documents cannot be accepted.
What happens after I fill in my application form?
1. Your application form will be sent by your college to City of Dublin ETB Head Office who process vetting for students.
2. The details on your application form will be input into the Garda Síochána e-Vetting system.
3. You will get an email from [email protected] with an invitation to complete your application.
4. There is a link in the email that you need to click on to bring you into the e-Vetting system to fill in further information.
5. You will need to fill in details including your mother’s maiden name, your father’s name (if known) and all addresses you have lived at since birth. There must not be any gaps.
6. Your application needs to be completed within 30 days of receiving the email. After 30 days the link will expire and you will need to reapply.
7. Once you have filled in everything correctly, City of Dublin ETB will submit your application to the Garda Vetting Bureau for processing.
When do I get my Garda Clearance?
Once the process has been completed and your vetting comes through (it is called a disclosure) your vetting letter will be sent by courier from City of Dublin ETB to the Principal in your college and they will arrange to give you a copy.
City of Dublin ETB does not keep copies of student vetting disclosures either electronically or in paper format, they are only available through your college campus.
Overseas Police Clearance Certificates
If you have lived outside the UK or European Union for 6 months or more while over the age of 16 you may be required by the organisation facilitating your work experience placement to provide them with a Police Clearance Certificate from the jurisdiction(s) of previous residency. There may be costs associated with this. If the certificate is not issued in English, you will be required to provide a certified translation.
Help, contacts, and further information
If you are having difficulty completing an e-Vetting application please inform your course tutor immediately.
User Guide: The National Vetting Bureau have an excellent user guide to the vetting system that you should refer to before completing your e-Vetting invitation. Click here to access the user guide
Email: Contact the City of Dublin ETB Student Vetting Section by email to [email protected]