Biometrics FAQ

During immigration to Canada, immigration officers may take biometric measurements of applicants during their meetings. Whether it is for Permanent Residency, a work permit or student permits, the process is quick, but still very necessary.

Below are some facts about Biometrics:

• The word biometrics means the resulting profile of a person based on certain measurements of their person (bio meaning life; metric meaning measurement).
• Biometrics is collected to prevent fraud and forgery during the immigration process. Effectively protecting immigrants from identity theft.
• Biometrics could be fingerprints, DNA or physical attributes such as height, weight hair color, et cetera. Typically, in immigration cases, only fingerprints are taken with some other descriptive features.
• They are useful for linking a person to the immigration databases to make it easier to identify them in future applications.
• Every time a person applies for immigration benefits they must go in to an interview and give their biometrics to prove that they are who they claim they are.
• Biometrics adds no delay to the estimated processing times because the interview is included in the estimation.
• The taking of biometrics also facilitates in the background checks that Citizenship and Immigration Canada perform on all applicants. The fingerprints are securely sent to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who will check whether or not the applicant is a criminal and therefore barred from immigrating to Canada. They will also examine the fingerprints to see if they already belong to someone already registered with CIC, preventing fraud.
• Immigrants who are currently within Canada do not need to submit biometrics.
• However, immigrants who currently reside in any other country will need to submit biometrics as part of their application.