Canadian immigration matters often require a police clearance certificate and/or RCMP criminal record check. WR provides the following overview to familiarize clients with Global Affairs Canada’s request for these documents as well as necessary document procurement procedures. Police clearance certificates are issued in Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the federal police service, and are commonly referred to as “RCMP criminal record checks.” Applications for RCMP checks for immigration purposes require fingerprints to be taken by a local police station in Canada, or by an accredited fingerprinting company inside or outside Canada. A list of accredited companies can be requested at CCRTIS-SCICTR@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. The fingerprints are then submitted to the RCMP’s Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services (CCRTIS) for searches of the National Repository of Criminal Records, and the RCMP issues a one-page criminal record check displaying the fingerprints, the person’s picture, the content of the repository, and the official RCMP dry seal. The RCMP criminal record check may be submitted to Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referred to as “Global Affairs Canada,” for authentication. Authentication is the certification of the genuineness of the RCMP’s seal so that the issued document may be recognized in another jurisdiction. Documents brought […]
