Police certificate for Canada PR: who, when and how

What are the current police certificate rules for Canadian immigration?

As of 5 October 2026, IRCC requires police certificates for permanent residence, citizenship and International Experience Canada, as scanned colour originals, valid for 6 months in your current country, and due within 60 days of an Express Entry invitation.

The table lists each rule with the page it comes from and the date we read it.

Who needs a police certificate for Canada?

You and each family member aged 18 or older must provide police certificates for permanent residence, citizenship or International Experience Canada, and IRCC can ask for one for other programs if you have a criminal record (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

The rule counts you and each family member aged 18 or older. The program's own document checklist or instruction guide decides the details, so this guide uses the Express Entry rules for the examples and flags where citizenship differs. Our Express Entry document checklist lists the other eight groups of documents.

Which countries do you need a police certificate from?

For Express Entry, you need a certificate from every country where you or a family member aged 18 or over stayed 6 months in a row or longer in the last 10 years, except Canada (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

Time before you turned 18 does not count either. IRCC gives three examples. A person who lived in the United States for 8 months at age 16 is not asked for a US certificate, because the stay was before 18. A 45-year-old who worked in Turkey for 7 months at age 25 is not asked for a Turkish one, because it was outside the last 10 years. A student who studied in Spain in several 4-month blocks is not asked either, because no stay reached 6 months in a row.

How long is a police certificate valid for a Canadian immigration application?

A certificate for the country where you live must be issued within 6 months before you submit, and one for any other country must be issued after your last stay there of 6 months or longer (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

In practice, the 6-month rule means a certificate for your current country should be ordered close to, but not long before, the day you plan to file, while certificates for countries you have left can be ordered once and kept. IRCC may still ask for updated documents at any time during processing.

When should you order police certificates?

Order them as soon as your Express Entry profile is in the pool, because an invitation gives you only 60 days to submit your permanent residence application and IRCC says police certificates can take a long time to arrive (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

You do not upload police certificates to create a profile. They are part of the application after an invitation, which is why the 60-day clock matters; our guide to what happens after your ITA walks through that window. For other programs the timing is set by the instruction guide: International Experience Canada candidates, for example, usually provide the certificate with their work permit application (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

How do you get a police certificate step by step?

In most cases you contact the local police or government of the country, ask for the certificate they issue for immigration, give the details they require and pay their fee, then scan the original in colour for your application (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

1. 01

   List your countries and dates

   Write down every country where you stayed 6 months in a row or longer in the last 10 years, with the dates. The authority will often ask for the addresses where you lived and when.

2. 02

   Find the right document

   Use IRCC's country list to see the exact document name and where to apply. The name differs by country: police clearance certificate, good conduct certificate, judicial record extract and others.

3. 03

   Apply and pay the authority

   You may have to provide photographs, fingerprints and your past addresses, and pay a fee. Fingerprints for a police certificate are not the same as biometrics for an IRCC application.

4. 04

   Check for a request letter

   Some countries issue a certificate only if IRCC sends a request letter. If yours is one, upload the statement IRCC asks for in the police certificate field and wait for IRCC's instructions.

5. 05

   Translate if needed

   If the certificate is not in English or French, order a certified translation and include it together with a copy of the original.

6. 06

   Scan in colour and upload

   Scan the original in colour, upload it in the matching country field of your document checklist and keep the original safe in case an officer asks for it.

Where do you get a police certificate in 13 countries?

IRCC names the exact document and the issuing authority for each country, and the table below lists 13 that we have country guides for, as published on IRCC's country pages and read on 5 October 2026.

Pages for the other countries follow the same layout at IRCC's how to get a police certificate page, where you pick your country from a list. Note that the date on some country pages is several years old; that is the date IRCC last changed the page, not a sign that it is out of date.

Do you need a Canadian police check or an RCMP certificate?

No, IRCC does not ask for a certificate for time spent in Canada and says you need none with a permanent residence application; it tells you if a Canadian criminal record check is needed later (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

If IRCC does ask, the check comes from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). IRCC says fingerprints must be submitted electronically, that electronic submissions are not available from outside Canada, and that a citizenship application needs fingerprints collected inside Canada. When RCMP demand causes delays, IRCC says it automatically extends the deadline to provide the check by 30 days, without you contacting anyone (canada.ca, updated 13 August 2026).

What if your police certificate is late or you cannot get one?

If you do not have all certificates by the 60-day deadline, upload a letter of explanation and proof of your best effort in the country's police certificate field, and an officer decides whether you tried hard enough (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

• Proof IRCC lists: a confirmation receipt, a payment receipt, a delivery notice, a tracking number, or an explanation from the issuing agency showing why there is a delay or why it cannot be issued.
• The risk: if the officer is not satisfied that you made your best effort, the application may be rejected as incomplete.
• Request-letter countries: if your country issues certificates only with an IRCC request letter, upload the statement IRCC specifies instead; IRCC reviews the file and, if it is otherwise complete, sends instructions.

What if your police certificate shows a criminal record?

A criminal record can affect whether you are allowed to enter or stay in Canada, and IRCC asks for police certificates for exactly that reason (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026). Some certificates also carry remarks that need follow-up.

IRCC's UK page, for example, says a certificate stating "No Live Trace" needs further information on any stepped-down record, and its Philippines page lists extra documents for certain NBI remarks. Our firm does not handle inadmissibility or criminal rehabilitation cases, so if your certificate shows a record, speak to an immigration lawyer before you file. Our information page on criminal inadmissibility explains the concept and is not a service we offer.

How do police certificates work for a citizenship application?

Adult applicants need a certificate from each country outside Canada where they spent 183 days or more in a row in the past 4 years since age 18, issued after their last stay or within 6 months of signing (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

Citizenship rules for the rest of the application are in our citizenship application guide, and the time you have spent abroad also feeds the physical presence count in our citizenship calculator.

How much does a police certificate cost?

IRCC does not list what each country charges for a police certificate; it says you may have to pay a fee to the local police or government that issues it (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

Our PR application fees guide lists what IRCC itself charges; the certificate and translation costs are paid directly to the provider.

What mistakes get police certificates rejected?

The mistakes that cost people time are sending the wrong type of certificate, a copy instead of a colour scan of the original, an out-of-date certificate for the current country, or leaving the 60-day clock to run before ordering (canada.ca, checked 5 October 2026).

• Certified true copies: IRCC does not accept them, and an application with one can be rejected; upload a colour scan of the original instead.
• Wrong document type: India's Character Certificates, Australian complete disclosure certificates and South African certificates from Ideco Biometrics are named as not accepted on IRCC's country pages.
• Stale certificate for your current country: it must be issued no more than 6 months before you submit, so an early order can expire while you wait for an invitation.
• One certificate for a country with several issuers: in Ireland each county's Garda office issues its own, so a single county does not cover all your time there.
• Missing translation: a certificate in another language needs the original plus a certified translation.
• Ordering after the invitation: with 60 days to file, a slow authority can leave you relying on the best-effort fallback.

When is it worth talking to a licensed RCIC about police certificates?

Talk to a licensed RCIC if you have lived in many countries, a certificate is slow or refused, a country needs a request letter, or your deadline is close; a simple one or two country file is a job many applicants do themselves.

• Many countries: a long history means a long list, and the 6-month and 10-year rules decide which ones you really need.
• A deadline running: a late certificate needs a letter of explanation and proof set out the right way in the right field.
• Unusual issuing rules: request-letter countries, per-county or per-state certificates and remarks on a certificate all take extra steps.
• Planning the whole file: police certificates sit alongside the medical exam, language results and reference letters, which all have their own validity dates.

Working under a licensed RCIC (CICC #R706497), our team represents clients entirely online, by video call and secure document sharing, and never guarantees an immigration outcome. We do not handle inadmissibility cases. Prefer to file yourself? Our lower-cost File Review has an RCIC check your application before you submit.