Can I do the fingerprints before I apply for my citizenship? I will probably leave Canada at some point during my application's processing time, and I don't want to come back to Canada only for fingerprints (this will make it 3-time round trips besides the exam/interview and the oath). Or can I do it while abroad?
Fingerprints before application
- Thread starter CaBeaver
- Start date
No. You can't. They are collected on demand from IRCC and need to be processed based on the request letter information.
Thank you for the reply. In this case, can I do it from outside Canada, or I have to do it from inside Canada?
They are captured electronically, not on paper, so your options may be limited.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=857&top=4 gives you a link to the procedure.
You can probably do from outside... I did fingerprint last year and the agency that did my fingerprint had a poster that stated they could do fingerprint for people outside Canada. All the person would do is have an accredited agency (outside Canada) do the INK-ROLLED paper version, send the paper, fees and documentation for the fingerprint to the Canadian agency (that did my fingerprint). They will then transfer it to electronic format and transmit to RCMP.
Thanks all. From the link posted by zardoz, it seems that the local police where I would be residing must do the fingerprints, and then send them to accredited agency inside Canada to convert them to electronic copy before submitting it to RCMP, as JBbless said. They mentioned I need to contact them to get the list of accredited agencies which can convert the forms into electronic copy. How long does it take for them to reply? Because if I have a short time frame to submit my fingerprints, and I have to take the fingerprints with the police and wait for them to reply with accredited list and then send it to them, and for them to process it and forward it to the RCMP, it might be late and after the allowed time frame. Do I have to worry about this? I wonder why this list is not publicly available.
This shouldn't be difficult because thousands of people live in Canada, travel back to their countries and apply to immigrate to Canada from outside Canada. Often IRCC require them to do criminality check with RCMP since they had lived in Canada... and they do it from outside Canada. Doing Canadian fingerprint from outside Canada is something I'd say is common.
Maybe... I said maybe... talk to one of the agencies before you travel and see if you can ink-roll your fingerprint in advance (either you keep the hard copy or they keep it for you - again I don't know if there's any legal bottleneck here) and then if IRCC requests your fingerprint you have the agency transfer the ink-rolled copy to electronic version and send to RCMP. You never know.
Sounds like an good idea to try. How to obtain the name of these accredited agencies? The link you provided said I need to email RCMP via email and ask them about the list of accredited agencies. Can I send them an email and ask for this list without having a request from them?
I did mine at an agency called F.I.P.S (Fingerprints Identification & Pardons Services) https://www.fips.ca/
I live in GTA and did mine at their Brampton location. In any case there are accredited agencies all over Canada; just search Fingerprint services.
I really don't think doing fingerprint from outside Canada is a big deal.
I live in GTA and did mine at their Brampton location. In any case there are accredited agencies all over Canada; just search Fingerprint services.
I really don't think doing fingerprint from outside Canada is a big deal.
I live in Montreal, and found this online. They claim they are accredited by RCMP. How to make sure before I contact them? Could anyone confirm?
I am just trying avoid any possible issues from outside Canada that could delay/affect my application.
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