# Canadian Police Check processsing time



## vany (Jul 9, 2012)

Hi all,

I have applied for my onshore partner visa 2 days ago and received my acknowledgement letter yesterday. The only missing document for my application to continue processing is the Criminal Record Check from the RCMP in Canada. I sent my fingerprints on the 7th June from Australia and I am wondering how long it will take to get it back. I red about 12 weeks? Is that correct? Any of you went through this?? 

Cheers.


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

vany said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I have applied for my onshore partner visa 2 days ago and received my acknowledgement letter yesterday. The only missing document for my application to continue processing is the Criminal Record Check from the RCMP in Canada. I sent my fingerprints on the 7th June from Australia and I am wondering how long it will take to get it back. I red about 12 weeks? Is that correct? Any of you went through this??
> 
> Cheers.


Hi Vany,

I may not be very helpful, but thought I would respond. My partner is also applying for his PR onshore (being a Canadian) and one of the last components we are waiting on is the Canadian Police Check. We sent ours from the local police station twice - the first time was returned as the police office hadn't filled out the fingerprint form correctly and we were missing the tops of his fingertips, and the reason for the application amongst other things! 
The local police office received a letter returning everything about amonth after sending, and it has been about another month since the second re-sending of info (I think that date was the 11th June) .

We were told by an Australian Canadian immigration officer that it could take a couple of months, as the RCMP processing time for Police checks is really slow, but weren't given a specific timeframe. It has been the bane of our existence now for the past couple of months! Haha. Not so much waiting, just the various processes in order to send off- hopefully our forms were filed out correctly by the local police station this time! Feels like we are living in the dark ages with the whole physical ink on the fingerprints, opposed to electronic versions!

My partner is still yet to do his medical, we are waiting for the Canadian Police check before completing that step, and then hopefully can send it all off together. Hopefully it doesn't take longer than 12 weeks!

Sorry I couldn't be of more help! But will let you know when(if!) we receive ours.

Good Luck!


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

vany said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I have applied for my onshore partner visa 2 days ago and received my acknowledgement letter yesterday. The only missing document for my application to continue processing is the Criminal Record Check from the RCMP in Canada. I sent my fingerprints on the 7th June from Australia and I am wondering how long it will take to get it back. I red about 12 weeks? Is that correct? Any of you went through this??
> 
> Cheers.


The processing time stated on the RCMP website is inaccurate. It takes 11 weeks for them simply to retrieve your prints from the mailroom, actual processing time is more like 15-16 weeks.

On the government of Canada website it states the minimum processing time to be 150 days! AHHH! I cant enter the link exactly here as I am new to the forum and they wont let me post links, if there is a way to private message me feel free and I will send you the link, again im new to the site and not sure how it works.

My Aus partner visa was due to be approved at the end of this month (July 2012) when my C/O (London Office) contacted me to say I had the wrong Canadian police check (I had name-check only, he needed finger-print background check, big mixup, long irrelevant story).

In a panic I was going to book a flight over from Ireland just to get my prints scanned (Scanned prints take the RCMP only 3 days to process) when I discovered that there are actually several accredited Canadian companies who will digitize your ink prints and submit them electronically for you, for a fee.

As I said there are several companies that provide the service, I used fingerscan.ca and I really must commend their efficiency. I sent my prints (express courier) from Ireland last Tuesday, and they received them on Thursday, digitized the prints, submitted to the RCMP and and sent me a confirmation letter from the RCMP that same day! I am now just waiting for the RCMP to mail me my results (which should take about 2 weeks general mail as the RCMP dont offer a courier service).

Whatever way you look at it, these guys either saved me an additional 5 months waiting, (when my visa was already so close). or they saved me the $1000 I was about to pay to fly over to Toronto for one day to get this thing done.. not to mention the interrogation I would have got at the airport as to why I was flying the whole way across the planet to visit for only a single day. Maybe I've been watching too much Border Patrol but that may not have ended well for my internal cavities.

The whole thing (excluding postage) cost $150, so about twice as much as submitting them direct to the RCMP, but boy was it worth it. I'll keep you posted on when I get the results back, should be about 2 weeks time. Whatever you do dont submit ink prints direct to the RCMP, there are a number of nightmare stories listed on the pomsinoz forum if you search for the "Canadian Criminal Check" thread (again, I cant post links). Hopefully admin will review this and see these links are not promotional and only in the interest of spreading valuable information.

I have been going around like a forum fairy trying to spread the word as the discovery of this service really saved my life on this one, last week I was a total nutbucket worrying about it, now Im so relieved.


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## vany (Jul 9, 2012)

Thank you for your reply Ciara19 and Bagelbagel81.

Ciara19, could you send me the link of the Canadian Government that states the 150 days please? That would be greatly appreciated. I could show this to my processing centre in order for them to grant me a bridging visa B. They dont always grant you Bridging visa B to exit the country temporarily if you have any outstanding documents missing. that frickin police check is the only thing i am missing. My mom is getting married in october and i have booked my tickets. I need that Bridging visa B !!

Thank you for your time


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## vany (Jul 9, 2012)

My e-mail is [email protected]


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

Hi Vany,

Just emailed you the link to the canadian gov site. All the best!


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

ciara19 said:


> The processing time stated on the RCMP website is inaccurate. It takes 11 weeks for them simply to retrieve your prints from the mailroom, actual processing time is more like 15-16 weeks.
> 
> On the government of Canada website it states the minimum processing time to be 150 days! AHHH! I cant enter the link exactly here as I am new to the forum and they wont let me post links, if there is a way to private message me feel free and I will send you the link, again im new to the site and not sure how it works.
> 
> ...


Thanks for this info, Ciara! Wish I had have known it back in April when my partner first went to get his fingerprints!

Not sure whether I should re-send a new fingerprints application or wait it out... actually scrap that - I know we will definitely be sending a new application, as I don't want to have to wait another 100 days or so more!

This will be the THIRD time we will have gone to our local police station to get prints now- they will be so sick of us! haha.

You know through this whole application process people have been saying it's the statutory declarations that take the longest - wrong! It's been this god-forsaken Canadian Police check and the ambiguity involved in Australian police figuring out what the heck they are meant to do.

I wrote to the fingerprints.ca people a couple of hours ago and they responded straight away with the forms. Strange thing is within those forms, there is no statement regarding current employment, and it doesn't mention anything about fingertip prints? However if yours were approved, then I wont question it!

Hopefully you get your Canadian Police Record sent real soon 

Thanks again!


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

bagelbagel81 said:


> Thanks for this info, Ciara! Wish I had have known it back in April when my partner first went to get his fingerprints!
> 
> Not sure whether I should re-send a new fingerprints application or wait it out... actually scrap that - I know we will definitely be sending a new application, as I don't want to have to wait another 100 days or so more!
> 
> ...


Hi there, glad to help. The 'finger tips' I believe just mean when you do the flat impressions if done correctly the tips should be included (when you do rolled impressions the tips tend to get left out) that's why they ask for ten flat and ten rolled, the good thing about these guys (fingerscan) is that they send you directions and an example sheet that you can give to the police officer doing your prints.

I've actually had my prints taken several times (used to live in the US do always had to get prints done for American police check when getting Canadian visas.. Man such a rigmarole! Anyways, the FBI do prints the exact same way.. Lord if I ever get booked the arresting officer is going to live me as when it comes to giving prints now I'm like a pro lol. Seems you're almost the same at this stage..

With regard to your standing record application, why don't you try giving them a call / email and see if they've even entered you into the system yet.. If they have not then you should def resubmit, but if they have then maybe they'd be able to give you a revised / updated idea of timeframe.. (note I've called them before and got nothing but answering machines, but I emailed them a few queries (back when I wanted to check this third party service was above board / legit and they got back to me within a day..


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

Also with regard to the 'statement regarding current employment', I've never heard of that, I only did what fingerscan asked for and my RCMP confirmation says rhe check is complete and hard copy results are being returned to me so, seems all good. My irish police were very confused by the whole thing too lol but once I gave them the printed instructions that seemed to clear everything up.. Best of luck whatever you decide to do, let is know how it goes.


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

Great Idea!

You don't happen to still have the email you used for correspondence (I could look it up myself, but figured I may as well make sure it's the same one you had a good success rate with!)

Thanks for the info regarding fingertips!

I am hoping our latest has been filed, but now unsure whether the last fingertips were done correctly, as they pretty much just added the fingertips only below the old fingerprints- they didn't redo the incorrect ones!

Either way it won't hurt to check via email...


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

ciara19 said:


> Also with regard to the 'statement regarding current employment', I've never heard of that, I only did what fingerscan asked for and my RCMP confirmation says rhe check is complete and hard copy results are being returned to me so, seems all good. My irish police were very confused by the whole thing too lol but once I gave them the printed instructions that seemed to clear everything up.. Best of luck whatever you decide to do, let is know how it goes.


Great!

I think the employment thing had to do with the Australian fingerprint form, as it is had a box asking current occupation on there, and my partner just put "sales" instead of his full occupation - which probably confused someone at RCMP.

Yeah - the sample provided is perfect for the police office! Now I just need to get an express post envelope so when we go to the office they will send it for us (as they wont let us send it ourselves - bizarre!)


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

bagelbagel81 said:


> Great Idea!
> 
> You don't happen to still have the email you used for correspondence (I could look it up myself, but figured I may as well make sure it's the same one you had a good success rate with!)
> 
> ...


Hello again, the email I used was [email protected]
Also the link to the Canadian gov site where it says the actual wait time is canadainternational.gc.ca/australia-australie/assets/pdfs/instructions_police_RCMP-en.pdf (you need to add the www as I still can't post links, but anyway scroll to bottom and read bolded print).. Also if you haven't already done so you should check the pomsinoz forum where people are complaining about having been waiting 4 months etc.


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

bagelbagel81 said:


> Great!
> 
> I think the employment thing had to do with the Australian fingerprint form, as it is had a box asking current occupation on there, and my partner just put "sales" instead of his full occupation - which probably confused someone at RCMP.
> 
> Yeah - the sample provided is perfect for the police office! Now I just need to get an express post envelope so when we go to the office they will send it for us (as they wont let us send it ourselves - bizarre!)


Lol that IS bizarre.. What do they worry you are going to do with your own prints? Weird! Ive had my prints taken in 3 different countries now (all for non-criminal reasons mind, lol) and they've always given them to me no problems. Yeah the Aussies seem irrationally uptight about this sorta thing, oh well, now I'm kinda glad I applied offshore


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

ciara19 said:


> Hello again, the email I used was [email protected]
> Also the link to the Canadian gov site where it says the actual wait time is canadainternational.gc.ca/australia-australie/assets/pdfs/instructions_police_RCMP-en.pdf (you need to add the www as I still can't post links, but anyway scroll to bottom and read bolded print).. Also if you haven't already done so you should check the pomsinoz forum where people are complaining about having been waiting 4 months etc.


Thank you so much!!

I will let you know how it all goes... !


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

bagelbagel81 said:


> Thank you so much!!
> 
> I will let you know how it all goes... !


Oh, one last thing, just in case you do get your partners prints taken again, in the very bottom left box Of the fingerprint form, where it says 'Finger Printing Agency / Department' get the police to fill out their details, and leave the bottom right box blank (this part confused me, so just to save you the hassle of messaging fingerscan for clarification, this is what they told me to do). Alright, that's all I can think of, best of luck again


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

bagelbagel81 said:


> Thank you so much!!
> 
> I will let you know how it all goes... !


Hi again,

Just letting you know I got my RCMP Police Check results back today. Less than 2 weeks since I sent them off. Here is the timeline;

*Tues July 3rd 2012 - Sent Ink Finger Prints* via Courier (DHL) from Dublin, Ireland to Finger Scan in Toronto, Canada

*Thurs July 5th 2012 - Received email* from Finger Scan confirming receipt of prints, with an attached confirmation letter from RCMP saying that my prints had been processed and hardcopy results being sent to me.

*Mon July 16th- Received RCMP Police Check Results* in the mail. I have already forwarded them on to my case officer in London.

Thought you'd like the update. So relieved to have found this service. Only wish I could have told you about it sooner. What did you decide to do in the end?


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

ciara19 said:


> Hi again,
> 
> Just letting you know I got my RCMP Police Check results back today. Less than 2 weeks since I sent them off. Here is the timeline;
> 
> ...


Wow- so fast!!
We actually tried going to the police station to do ours on Saturday- but our local office always tries to make it difficult because noone seems to like doing fingerprints! So we made another booking for last night (monday) and got them to use the emailed form (we did the left hand twice because was worried my partner didn't show his fingertips properly- haha). Again they wouldn't let us have the released fingerprints so I supplied them with an international express courier envelope- so here's hoping it gets sent first thing tomorrow (17th July). Fourth time lucky!! The process so far definitely does seem more straight-forward using this method- so here's hoping the fingerscan folk are able to process them a-ok!

I wanted to thank you for telling us about the site- CND $150 is nothing in the big scheme of things, and knowing the Police check will come back in weeks opposed to six months makes me want to cry with relief!!

Good-luck with your application and let me. Know how it progresses! Likewise, I will do the same


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

Oh yeah, I also wanted to add that I ended up emailing RCMP and they responded quite promptly- but it appeared to be a stock standard response that didn't seem to answer my question on whether they had begun processing our old fingerprints or not. They basically said to "contact them back in a few weeks" to get an answer on whether they started processing... Hmmm ! So yeah let's also see what happens there! (whether we get our additional CDN$25 refund in six months- haha!)


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

bagelbagel81 said:


> Oh yeah, I also wanted to add that I ended up emailing RCMP and they responded quite promptly- but it appeared to be a stock standard response that didn't seem to answer my question on whether they had begun processing our old fingerprints or not. They basically said to "contact them back in a few weeks" to get an answer on whether they started processing... Hmmm ! So yeah let's also see what happens there! (whether we get our additional CDN$25 refund in six months- haha!)


I totally just laughed out loud to see you edit your posts for spelling errors! Too funny. Yeah that response sounds pretty generic. Really hope this one works out for you. Be sure and let us know when you get the electronic back and when you get the ink submission back, should be interesting for an up to date comparison!

I was so delighted today, so funny to think that 2 weeks ago I was balling my eyeballs out thinking this whole mess was going to keep me and my partner apart til CHRISTMAS!! Now Im right back on schedule for the end of July! Phew. Do your results get sent back to you personally or do they have to go back to the Aus police? Hopefully the former as the whole Aus police input seems to be really confusing the whole situation for you guys..

Best of luck again xx


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

Haha- I find t hard to type on an iPhone, and am a bit OCD with spelling! Luckily
We can get the results sent directly back to us! So happy that part is over. We now just need a stat dec saying full names of his parents ( they aren't on his birth certficate!?) and then the good old medical! Lucky he is on a working VISA with me, so we are not so much in a rush... Howeer this process has been going for over a year now! Looking forward to your updates! X


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## bagelbagel81 (Jul 11, 2012)

Hi Ciara!
Just an update- my partner just received an email from the Worldwide fingerprints today saying RCMP have processed them! So fast considering the envelope only left Australia last Thursday!! How did you find out about this place? They are amazing!! Thanks so much for being my magic Canadian Police Record fairy!

Hollie


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## ciara19 (Jul 11, 2012)

bagelbagel81 said:


> Hi Ciara!
> Just an update- my partner just received an email from the Worldwide fingerprints today saying RCMP have processed them! So fast considering the envelope only left Australia last Thursday!! How did you find out about this place? They are amazing!! Thanks so much for being my magic Canadian Police Record fairy!
> 
> Hollie


Hi Holly,

That is fantastic news! Hopefully you get them back in the mail soon. Mine took just over a week to get to Ireland so I imagine as your post was about a week ago you should have them very soon.

In separate news, I GOT MY VISA TODAY!!! Whoop Whoop!! So seems my police check was all good  Jeeze imagine I could be waiting around til November / December still.. ugh! Booked my flights this morning and am off to Perth at the end of August!!!! (Just in case I havent already used enough exclamation marks, lets throw in some extras for good measure!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!! lol. Okay, im done)

Lol I'll happily accept the title of magic Canadian police record fairy, has a nice ring to it 

In answer to your question, I found the service as I was toying with the idea of flying over to Toronto to get my prints scanned, and was looking up printing agencies closest to the Airport. Happened to stumble across these guys and on their website they had info about their "prints from abroad" service. Man, can you imagine I flew over there and only found this out when I got there? How devastating lol.

Keep us posted anyway on your visa adventures, will be interesting to see when you actually get the ink print results back..


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