International Background Checks by Certn


Employees holding globe depicting global hiring

If you’re running a global business, this means you have international hiring laws and background screening policies to comply with. Maybe you’re not fully global yet, but the employees you’re hiring are. Don’t let international background check hurdles get in your way of hiring the best candidates.

It’s vital that you conduct thorough background screening to reduce company exposure to fraud or misrepresentation. Don’t worry, international background screening isn’t as complicated as it may sound when you work with our compliance experts. At Certn, we’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring background checks don’t suck, especially international ones. In this blog post, which Certn background screening services are available internationally and Certn’s compliance standards.

International Background Check for Employment

According to Credence Background Screening, 48% of businesses have encountered a candidate misrepresenting their degree qualifications. This is why it’s crucial to conduct thorough background screening and run an international background check for employment, even when you think you’ve found the perfect candidate.

Background checks are your first line of defense. They can help you make informed decisions when hiring new personnel who will have access to your company assets, sensitive customer data, and workforce, and help you get a more complete picture by verifying the information they’re provided is true, such as their degree qualifications.

International background checks may seem intimidating at first, but we think it’s nowhere near as intimidating as the dangers of not doing background checks and a negligent hiring lawsuit. Certn’s compliance experts can guide you through how to order international background checks from over 200 countries and territories so you have one less thing to worry about and can focus on other tasks such as growing your business globally.

International employee starting new job after international background checks

Different Kinds of International Background Checks

Trends like globalization, outsourcing as a cost-saving measure, and the rise of flexible work arrangements (in part spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic) all contribute to businesses hiring combinations of international and local workers to build their teams. Some workplaces, like ours, are even fully remote. That is why at Certn, our background screening services are available on a global scale.

Many screening services we offer in North America are also available globally. These include services like:

  • Criminal record checks
  • Identity verification
  • Education verification
  • Employment verification
  • Credential verification
  • Reference checks

Our international clients also benefit from our public records and global sanctions searches. Depending on the jurisdiction, we can support our clients by scanning a variety of international databases from global enforcement lists such as terrorist watchlists.

An added benefit of working with Certn for your international background checks for employment is that our experts can help you understand the consolidated reports that show up in your platform. For example, not all countries report crimes that are less serious such as misdemeanours. Therefore, we can help you by recommending other verifications as part of a thorough background screening program to get you the job-specific information you need to make decisions about who to hire.

Compliant Background Checks

We’ve heard that a challenge in global background screening and international background checks for employment is the complexity of navigating foreign laws.

Working with a vendor like Certn gives you extra peace of mind — we’re SOC 2-, SOC-3, and ISO 27001-certified, and we adhere to the United States’ Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards so you can ensure that your background checks are compliant. We also operate globally, with over 29 years experience serving multinational clients in the United Kingdom and extensive police check experience in Australia and New Zealand.

Female employee completing international background checks on her cellphone

How Long Does an International Background Check Take?

The time it takes to get results from international background checks can vary depending on factors such as the country in question, the complexity of the investigation, and the information required. However, generally speaking, an international background check can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. However, our use of automation in international background screening can help shorten turnaround times by using database integrations to speed up the check process.

To obtain the most accurate and up-to-date information on the timeframe for an international background check, it’s best to consult with one of our experts.

Better International Hiring

As a business, you’re liable for what your employees do or say while they’re working for you, so it’s a good practice to ensure you trust them using international background checks for employment. Criminal record checks will alert you of a potential employee’s criminal history, whereas public records searches (if permitted in your jurisdiction) can scan public information across over 200,000 global databases and flag any mentions on watchlists, sanctions lists, sex offender registries, court records, news reports, and more.

If you’re ready to take advantage of Certn’s comprehensive international background screening, create an account and get started for free or request a demo to talk to one of our experts. Our team will work with you to understand your specific needs and provide customized screening solutions to meet your organization’s unique requirements.