For Canadian Family Sponsorship, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) generally only requires police certificates for dependent applicants who are 18 years of age or older. Dependent minor children under 18 do not need to provide background checks. However, biometrics (fingerprinting) are strictly required starting at age 14, which costs $85 CAD.
When applying to sponsor your family for permanent residence in Canada, gathering the mountain of mandatory supporting documents can feel incredibly overwhelming. To protect the safety and security of the country, the Canadian government requires rigorous criminal background checks for people moving here permanently. 👮 However, parents often panic when trying to figure out if their young children need to visit a local police station abroad to get fingerprinted for a criminal record check.
Whether you are submitting your application from a bustling office in Toronto, a home in Halifax, or directly from overseas, the IRCC document checklist is very specific about age requirements. Providing unnecessary documents only slows down processing, while missing mandatory documents will result in your application being returned. 📊 This comprehensive guide clarifies exactly when a dependent child must submit a police clearance certificate, when biometrics apply, and how to successfully navigate the background check process for your family.
Step-by-Step Process in Canada
Understanding exactly what IRCC needs prevents critical delays in your family reunification. Police certificates are essentially an official copy of a person’s criminal record, or a declaration that they have no criminal history. 📝 Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how to handle background checks for dependent children in a sponsorship application.
Step 1: Determining the Child’s Exact Age
The primary legal threshold for criminal background checks is 18 years of age. If your dependent child is 17 years old or younger on the day IRCC officially receives your complete permanent residence application, they generally do not need to provide a police certificate. 🔍 However, if your child is 18, 19, 20, or 21 (and unmarried, keeping their dependent status), they are legally considered adults for security purposes and must provide the certificates with the initial application package.
Step 2: Identifying Which Countries Require Certificates
For dependents aged 18 and over, the rules are incredibly strict regarding where they need to get a police check. They must provide a police certificate from every single country where they have lived for 6 or more months in a row since turning 18. 📍 For example, if your 20-year-old dependent child studied in the United Kingdom for eight months when they were 19, they will absolutely need a UK police certificate in addition to one from their home country.
Step 3: Preparing for Biometrics (Age 14+)
While children under 18 skip the police certificate, they do not skip the biometrics requirement. Under Canadian immigration law, any applicant aged 14 or older must provide their biometrics, which involves having their fingerprints scanned and a digital photograph taken. 📸 Once you submit the sponsorship application and pay the required fee, IRCC will issue a Biometrics Instruction Letter (BIL), directing the teenager to the nearest Visa Application Centre (VAC).
Step 4: Requesting the Police Certificate
If your child is 18 or older, you must follow the specific instructions on the IRCC website to obtain the correct document from foreign authorities. Every country has a different process; some require you to apply online, while others require a physical set of ink fingerprints mailed to their national police headquarters. 📬 You must ensure you are requesting the exact type of background check IRCC demands, as a simple local city police check is almost never accepted.
Step 5: Translating the Documents
If the issued police certificate is not in English or French, you cannot simply upload it as is. You must hire a certified translator to provide an exact, legally sworn translation of the document. 📄 You must submit the certified translation alongside a clear colour scan of the original foreign-language police certificate to prevent your application from being rejected as incomplete.
How Much Does it Cost in Canada?
Gathering security clearances and biometric data involves navigating both Canadian government fees and foreign administrative costs. You must budget carefully to ensure all documents are ordered efficiently. 💵 Here is what you can generally expect to pay in CAD:
- Dependent Child Processing Fee: The Canadian government charges a flat $180 CAD fee ($90 sponsorship fee plus a $90 processing fee) for each dependent child included in the application.
- Biometrics Fee: If the child is 14 or older, you must pay an $85 CAD biometrics fee. If a family applies together, the maximum biometrics fee per family is capped at $170 CAD.
- Police Certificate Fees: These fees vary wildly by country. For example, a UK ACRO certificate costs around $100 CAD, while getting an FBI background check from the United States might cost $25 CAD plus courier fees.
- Translation Fees: Certified translations for foreign documents typically cost between $50 and $100 CAD per page.
How Long Does the Process Take?
Timing your police certificate requests is a delicate balancing act. In Canada, a police certificate is generally considered valid for 1 year from the date of issue. ⏳ If you request it too early, it might expire before IRCC finishes processing your sponsorship application (which usually takes 10 to 12 months). Conversely, some countries, like South Africa or the United States, can take 12 to 16 weeks to process a background check request, so you must factor this delay into your overall application timeline.
To simplify the age requirements for dependent children, review this quick reference guide:
| Child’s Age at Submission | Police Certificate Needed? | Biometrics (Fingerprints) Needed? | Immigration Medical Needed? |
| Under 14 Years Old | No | No | Yes |
| 14 to 17 Years Old | No | Yes ($85 CAD) | Yes |
| 18 to 21 Years Old | Yes | Yes ($85 CAD) | Yes |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What happens if my 17-year-old child turns 18 during processing?
IRCC bases the police certificate requirement on the applicant’s age on the exact date they receive the complete application. If your child is 17 when you apply, they do not need a police certificate initially. However, IRCC reserves the right to request a police certificate later in the process once they turn 18, so you should be prepared.
We cannot get a police certificate because of a war. What do we do?
If obtaining a police certificate is genuinely impossible due to a natural disaster, armed conflict, or the collapse of the government, you must write a highly detailed Letter of Explanation (LOE). You must prove you made every reasonable effort to get the document (such as showing email rejections or courier failures). IRCC may grant an exemption, but it is evaluated strictly on a case-by-case basis.
Does my child need a Canadian police check if they live with me in Canada?
No. When you submit an inland sponsorship application, IRCC conducts its own internal background checks through the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). You only need to provide police certificates for countries outside of Canada where the 18+ dependent lived for 6 consecutive months.
My child had a minor juvenile conviction. Will they be denied?
Canadian immigration law generally treats youth criminal records differently than adult convictions. If the offense was committed under the age of 18, it may not render them criminally inadmissible to Canada. However, you must still declare the incident fully and provide the relevant court documents so an immigration officer can make a legal assessment.
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