RCMP Fingerprints for waivers, processing (wait) times?

Ken we get a ton of our own prints but we also get some other prints back, and its taking about 2 weeks at most for no record and 3 weeks at most if the record is there. The odd one goes longer but we even have some in 3-4 business days. Could it be the distance from BC from Ottawa vs us in the GTA?

Michelle? Whats your fingerprinting time?

@John Rogers #41..it is all over the place, never consistent..I tell my clients always, 6-10 weeks for criminal records and 2 weeks for no record...If I had to put a more defined time..I would say 3 to 4 weeks....rarely do I get them sooner..

They all come regular mail, so there should not be a massive difference. Brampton Ottawa SHOULD be a bit faster than Ottawa out west, but maybe there are other factors at play as well. I agree very inconsistent.

Technically where you have your prints done and from which company should not matter. Michelle and I are provinces apart but fingerprinting you on the same machine and Ottawa is getting the prints virtually at the same time. Mailing from Ottawa could add a day or two at most.

I advise people not close to me to simply go to the nearest fingerprinting place that has hours that are convenient. It really is all the same thing.

Most times when you do a pardon/waiver through a company that can fingerprint, you will save money because they include the fingerprints in the fee.

They do seem to average 3-4 weeks if a conviction shows up. I was told that the more convictions that show up, the longer that they could take. Rarely do we get a person in BC that only has 1 criminal conviction here. The average is maybe 8 or so. The most that I have seen for convictions so far is a client with 36 of them. We have a guy that holds a record of 9 pages of charges but only 3 convictions.

K Scott ....the amount of convictions has no bearing on the speed of getting the prints since it automated. The only factor is "hit/no hit".

Its 2018... a printer can print 5 pages in almost the time it takes to print 2. The RCMP went through a switch over in the last 2 years and much of what they do is automated. I think a bigger factor is literally how much volume they have, when it hits the mail room, and how far it travels. I assume being in Ottawa means you are going to get it a day faster than lets say Toronto. And Ontario is going to possibly be a day or more faster than BC or NewFoundland since thats the furthest away.

This is what I meant when I said the more convictions show up, the longer it takes. I was told by the Ottawa RCMP that if there is no hit then they process those prints quickly and you should get the results within 7 to 10 days. She also told me that if they see any charge or conviction, then those take longer since they contact each specific jursdiction to verify each one individually. So the more jurisdictions, the longer it takes.

An example is that if a guy has 5 convictions in Canada at different locations, it would take more time to verify as opposed if they only had one conviction in Surrey for possession of a joint? Anyway, this is what they told me when we called before. We don't do prints yet so I was going by what the RCMP told me. You and Michelle have more knowledge about prints since you both specialise in them.

The RCMP Civil Section in Ottawa processes fingerprints. They now use a mainly automated system, and nothing is individually "verified".

They print out what they see. The only thing that becomes manual is if they see a conditional discharge that must be removed, or the 'type' of record search requires more or less information.

For example, pardons and waivers get different record searches. The pardon shows more information because it goes beyond 'restricted distribution'. If you get fingerprinted for contract security, its different. If you get fingerprints for Citizenship, its different.

Back when fingerprints were really slow, about 1.5 years ago (maybe less) they were switching to their new system.

Ok well, this is good info to know....as you know my speciality is not fingerprints but resolving complex border crossing issues. Yes, it was about 2014 when the Ottawa RCMP told me this about prints. We will eventually get into digital fingerprinting around 2020 or so. I appreciate the update :)

@51, Michel, The reason you were asked to do fingerprints is "something" is showing on your criminal record , either a conviction or a history. The 120 days is a time frame that the RCMP have stated as it may take up to 120 days to process your check. If you received a conditional discharge as you stated, it would have been automatically removed from your criminal record 3 years from the date you were sentenced, and you would not need to be submitting fingerprints. Do you have something else on your record? or was your sentence something other than a Conditional Discharge? I am receiving most of my client's results within 4 to 6 weeks, however, the RCMP are very unpredictable, and can change the timeline at any moment. You should be prepared for the full 120 days.

Just a clarification, if you have NEVER been fingerprinted since your conditional discharge, it would STILL be on your record. The RCMP are supposed to remove the record after 3 years but they only do it when its brought to their attention.

Thats why you still get people with 10 year old conditional discharges being dinged at the border. Then they do fingerprints and the record is "seen" by the RCMP, and then removed. If you never do fingerprints, the record sits on CPIC. There is no RCMP mechanism to automatically purge anything.

Many clients are finding the waivers they ARE getting granted are taking at least a couple of weeks longer to arrive. This is due to the ongoing rotating mail strike.

We are finding our general mail is also hit and miss.

I talked to a Supervisor again at Pearson Intl Airport and it looks like they will remain closed for the foreseeable future.

I will keep checking and provide an update if anything changes.

In the meantime, use Niagara Falls and remember that is is also open Sundays 5-9 pm right now.

@55..sometimes..things go great..yes..that sounds like the proper document..just make sure it says travel/border crossing/ for purpose..if so..carry on with the next steps..

Fingerprints have been very fast for quite a while. Its rare for them to get to 30 days or longer.

I am finding 2 weeks or less for "no record" is normal and 3 weeks or less for a record is normal.

For those of you that did waivers (or Pardons) In 2017 or before, its quite a change because there were times the fingerprints would take months. That is no longer the case.

@logan..prints r good for 15 months from verification date on page. 1..