Are My Biometrics Still Valid? – Canada Visa and Immigration
Unless you are from an exempt group, you need to give biometrics to visit, study, working, or immigrating to Canada. Nonetheless, you may have valid biometrics. If you are not familiar with the concept of biometrics, read the following article first:
Validity of biometrics
Generally speaking, every time you apply for permanent residence, you need to give biometrics. However, when you give biometrics for temporary residence it could remain valid for up to ten years. Regardless, you must provide new biometrics if your facial features have changed drastically. For example, when you have gone through facial plastic surgery.
How to check the validity of biometrics for temporary resident applications
If you have already given biometrics in the past ten years, your biometrics could still be valid. However, never guess if your biometrics are valid. To avoid extra processing fees and time, you may take the following steps to check out the validity of your biometrics.
- Review your previous application documents to locate your Unique Client Identifier (UCI). Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issue this number for you when you submit your first application to them. This number is unique to each person and independent of the number of applications you submit. Each of your family members has her/his own UCI. Depending on the date of your first interaction with the Canadian immigration authorities, this number could consist of eight (e.g. 1234-5678) or 10 (e.g. 12-3456-7890) digits. If you have an online account with the IRCC, you may open it and locate the UCI there. Otherwise, refer to your previous communications with the IRCC or contact your immigration consultant. The following image shows an online sample page. I have redacted the actual numbers to protect my client’s privacy.
- Click here to open the IRCC website.
- Click the “I Accept” button.
- Fill out the form (click to enlarge the picture).
- Click “Check Status.”
A table appears at the bottom of the page and shows if your biometrics is still valid or not.
Relevant article:
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Al Parsai, LLM, MA, RCIC-IRB
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Adjunct Professor, Queen’s University Faculty of Law
Instructor, Ashton College, Immigration Consulting Program
Author of 88 Tips on Immigration to Canada and Inadmissibility to Canada for Human Rights Violations
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