Why Does One Need Fingerprints For Canadian Citizenship?
Most people who apply for Canadian citizenship are not required to record their citizenship fingerprints. The need to record one’s fingerprints arises only when the IRCC sends a letter to the applicant requesting the record of Canadian citizenship fingerprint.
This letter sent to you by the IRCC will also state why they need you to record your citizenship fingerprint. Sometimes, the Canadian citizenship fingerprint request can be rather vague and fail to give you a clear picture. We cannot state and lead to the specifics of why you received the Canadian citizenship fingerprint request. However, there might be a few reasons why your citizenship fingerprints were requested:
- For Quality Assurance (QA)
- Another citizenship/permanent residentship applicant may have a similar name and date of birth that (almost) matches your name and date of birth (especially if the other person’s application has been rejected)
- A name or a date of birth similar to another person’s name and date of birth present in the criminal records.
This makes it clear that Canadian citizenship fingerprints are conducted only to ensure no fraud is committed and your identity is kept safe from someone else who might have similar credentials.
In the Quality Assurance (QA) case, people or applicants are randomly chosen. Now, you may know other people who have gone through the process of gaining Citizenship but might have a different Quality Assurance experience. They may have to present different documents, and you might have to present documents different than theirs. If picked during QA, you are required to provide additional documents. The practice and process of Quality Assurance change regularly. These changes are made by the IRCC.
If your fingerprint is asked for because someone holds a name and date of birth similar to your name and date of birth, your fingerprint will help distinguish your identity and keep any confusion at bay in the future.
If your fingerprint is asked for because someone with a criminal record has a name or date of birth similar to yours, your fingerprints will be sent to the RCMP. The RCMP will then run your fingerprint in their criminal database to see if you are a match.