Do My Fingerprints Expire?

In short, fingerprints themselves typically don’t expire. Once taken, your fingerprints remain valid as biometric identifiers for life.

However, for a Canadian police clearance (also known as RCMP certified criminal record check), you may need to take your fingerprints within a certain timeframe. This is common if you’re required to obtain a Canadian police clearance for the following reasons:

• Foreign visa/immigration applications
• IRCC applications (Citizenship and PR)
• Legal name changes
• Federal, provincial, private employment
• Volunteer work
• Adoption
• US waiver application
• Canadian record suspension (Pardon) application

For example, IRCC Canadian citizenship applications usually require fingerprints to be taken within 30 days since the date of issue on the fingerprint request letter. This timeframe is same with legal name changes in most of the provinces in Canada. For other countries visa or immigration applications, the relevant government authorities typically accept results that are up to 3 months old, some even 6 months old.

On a side note, fingerprints submitted for a Canadian police clearance that is used for one purpose (application) typically cannot be re-used for a different purpose. For example, fingerprints taken for an IRCC application cannot be used again for an employment purpose. You must submit new fingerprints (even if your fingerprints don’t change over time).

Should you have any questions about having your fingerprints taken for a Canadian police clearance, please visit our website for more information: www.thefingerprintroom.com. You can also email us at contact@thefingerprintroom.com or call our office at 604-447-2485 during our business hours from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (except statutory holidays).