Criminal record check for an immigration or citizenship application in Canada
If you need to give your fingerprints for a police certificate, this isn’t the same as giving your biometrics (fingerprints and photo) for an application.
IRCC requirements
- You don’t need to provide a police certificate when you apply for permanent residence in Canada.
- We’ll tell you if you need a Canadian criminal record check while your application is being processed.
How to get a criminal record check
Visit the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) website for instructions.
Special considerations
Fingerprints must be submitted electronically to Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services (CCRTIS).
Electronic fingerprint submissions to the RCMP are not currently available from outside of Canada. You must contact an accredited company within Canada that will digitize ink fingerprints and submit them electronically to the RCMP.
Paper submissions will not be processed and will be sent back to you.
If you need to submit fingerprints for a citizenship application, they must be collected inside Canada.
RCMP service delays
There’s currently a large demand for RCMP criminal record checks. Your request may be delayed. If this delay has affected you, we’ll automatically extend the deadline to provide the criminal record check by 30 days. You don’t need to contact us or the RCMP to extend the deadline.