June 17, 2010

How to get Canadian Police Clearance


For Canada Visa application purposes, Canadian Visa Office normally requires Police Certificate from countries where you stayed for six months and more. If you previously worked in Canada and is now in your home country, here's how to get Canadian Police Clearance from outside Canada.

1. Contact the nearest police force which offers fingerprinting services. The RCMP will accept fingerprint forms from foreign countries that contain the following:

  • rolled and flat impressions of all ten fingers taken with black ink

  • full name, date of birth and sex of the applicant

  • the name and address of the police agency

  • the signature of the official taking the fingerprints

  • If the police service in your country does not have fingerprint forms for non-criminal purposes, you can obtain an RCMP C-216C form by contacting Civil Fingerprinting Screening Services (CFSS) e-mail at civilnps@rcmp-grc.gc.ca and provide the following information:

  • your name

  • mailing address, and

  • specify the number of forms required.


  • 2. Applicants for immigration to Canada must enter the name and address of the Canadian Immigration Center, Embassy, Consulate or High Commission handling the case in the "Name and Address of Contributing Agency/Dept" portion of the C216C. If you have an immigration file number, write it below the address as a reference for immigration officials.

    Ensure you provide:

  • your full name

  • date of birth

  • sex

  • mailing address

  • phone number

  • and/or fax number

  • and/or e-mail address

  • Do not provide any additional personal information with your request. This material provides no value to the service and will be destroyed.


  • 3. Send your request to:

    By mail:

    The Director
    Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services
    RCMP, NPS Bldg.
    1200 Vanier Parkway
    Ottawa ON K1A 0R2

    By courier:

    The Director
    Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services
    RCMP, NPS Bldg., Loading Dock #1
    1200 Vanier Parkway
    Ottawa ON K1A 0R2

    Before sending your request, make sure it contains the following:

  • original fingerprint form

  • full name

  • date of birth

  • sex

  • mailing address

  • phone number, fax number or email address

  • reason for application

  • processing fee ( if applicable)

  • third party consent letter (if applicable)



  • 4. Processing fee is not required if the purpose is for Application for Immigration to Canada.

    For more information on how to obtain Police Clearance or Police Certificate from Canada, click here to visit Royal Canadian Mounted Police official website.

    Currently, the time to process criminal record verifications can be more than four months. In many cases it can be less; however, RCMP do not guarantee that you will have your reply in less than that amount of time.