Canada officially joins the Hague Apostille Convention on January 11, 2024 and many people are confused about whether they need apostille or country embassy authentication for their Canadian documents. While the outcome is essentially the same, allowing for the use of a Canadian document in a foreign country, what each process involves can be different. Here are some facts about apostille and authentication:

Canadian apostilled documents are acceptable by all countries that are also part of the Hague Apostille Convention. This process can be done by either a provincial authority, or by the Department of Global Affairs in Canada. Click here to see a list of the 125 countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention.

Documents authenticated by a country’s embassy on the other hand, are only available for use in the respective country. Additionally, a country’s embassy may have different requirements and paperwork to be completed before a document can be authenticated. For example, some of these counties are:

  • Kuwait
  • Qatar
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • UAE
  • Vietnam

The Fingerprint Room Inc. can help you obtain your Canadian Police Clearance Certificate with Canadian Apostille. Other Canadian certificates (e.g., birth, marriage, death, divorce certificates) can also be apostilled. The process is easy and simple:

  1. Book an appointment at one of our offices in Richmond BC or Calgary AB to have your fingerprints taken.
  2. On the day of your appointment, bring two pieces of government-issued IDs. We will take your fingerprints when you visit us and submit to RCMP to conduct a Canadian police clearance certificate. The average turnaround time for RCMP is 5-10 business days.
  3. Once we receive your Canadian police clearance certificate, we will process your Canadian apostille. Apostille currently takes about 10-15 business days on top of RCMP’s turnaround time.
  4. Once we receive your apostilled certificate, we will verify that everything is done correctly and contact you to pick up the completed document at our office. If you will be travelling, we can also arrange courier service to ship your apostilled certificate to you.

Should you have other documents that require a Canadian apostille, please email us a scan or photo of the document you wish to be apostilled. Our staff will take a look at your document and let you know if it can be apostilled in Canada.

If you would like to know more about our services, please check our website for more details: https://thefingerprintroom.com.Please also feel free to contact us by email and phone. Our email is contact@thefingerprintroom.com, and our office number is: 604-447-2485.

For domestic clients, contact us at: +1-604-447-2485

For international clients, contact us at: +1-844-447-2485

For questions or concerns, email your enquiries to: contact@thefingerprintroom.com

To book an appointment at a location near you: https://thefingerprintroom.com/book-now/

To book an appointment at Richmond, BC: https://thefingerprintroom.com/richmond-b-c/

To book an appointment at Calgary, BC: https://thefingerprintroom.com/calgary-ab-canada/