Biometrics are your fingerprints and a photo. IRCC collects them to confirm you are who you say you are, and to help assess your application. The process is short. The rules around it are where people lose weeks.
In this guide
This page covers who has to give them, who is exempt, what it costs, the 30 day deadline that starts the moment your instruction letter arrives, and the 10 year rule that decides whether you ever have to do this again.
Who needs to give biometrics
Unless you are exempt, you need to give fingerprints and a photo when you apply for:
A visitor visa.
An initial work or study permit, or an extension. United States nationals are excluded.
An extension of your stay in Canada, unless you are from a visa exempt country.
Permanent residence.
A new PR card, if you were previously exempt because of your age, meaning you were 13 or younger when you applied for PR.
Refugee or asylum status.
You also need them, regardless of where your document was issued, if you are applying with a refugee travel document, a certificate of identity, or a United States Refugee Travel Document together with proof of lawful permanent resident status.
Who is exempt
You do not need to give biometrics if you are:
A Canadian citizen, a citizenship applicant, or a passport applicant.
An existing permanent resident.
A visa exempt national coming to Canada to visit only, including anyone applying for an eTA.
A head of state or head of government.
An applicant who qualifies for or holds a diplomatic or official visa.
A United States visa holder transiting through Canada.
Applying for a visitor visa, study permit or work permit, having already given biometrics for a permanent residence application that is still being processed.
A child under 14.
An applicant over 79. Note that there is no upper age exemption for asylum claimants.
The age rule is decided by the date you submitted the application, not by your age today. If your child was 13 when you filed, they are exempt even if they turn 14 next week. If you were 79 when you filed and you are now 80, you must still give them.
You can refuse to give biometrics. IRCC's response is equally plain: it may refuse your application.
What it costs
| Who is applying | Biometrics fee |
|---|---|
| One person | CAD $85 |
| A family applying at the same time, two or more members | CAD $170 maximum in total |
| A group of 3 or more performing artists and their staff applying for work permits together | CAD $255 maximum in total |
| Transit visa applicants | No fee |
The family rate covers your spouse or common law partner and your dependent children or their dependent children.
Pay the biometrics fee when you apply. Pay it late and you will simply wait longer.
The 30 day clock
Once you have paid, IRCC sends you a Biometric Instruction Letter, the BIL. It confirms that you need to give biometrics and tells you how to book.
You have 30 days from the time you get your BIL to give your biometrics.
Book the appointment the day the letter arrives. Not the week after. Appointment availability at busy visa application centres is the single most common reason people run out of clock.
If you genuinely cannot make it in time, use IRCC's web form to explain why and ask for more time. Give details. If the problem is that the earliest appointment offered was after your deadline, say so, give the date, and upload a screenshot of the appointment confirmation.
One warning worth repeating. Never turn up with a BIL from a previous application. IRCC says this can delay processing or get your current application refused.
Where to give them, from outside Canada
If you are outside Canada and not in the United States, you go to a Visa Application Centre (VAC).
And here is the answer to the question everybody asks: if there is no VAC in the country or territory you are applying from, you can go to any other VAC location. You are not stuck. You travel to the nearest one.
If you are in the United States, you can use an Application Support Centre (ASC) or a VAC. There are 128 ASCs across the country. You must already be legally in the United States to attend either.
Cuba is a special case. There are no VACs in Cuba, so biometrics are given at the Embassy of Canada in Havana. You email the embassy for an appointment and wait for confirmation. The embassy does not accept walk ins.
Two things you cannot do:
You cannot give biometrics at a Canadian port of entry if you have already submitted an application and received a BIL. Port of entry collection is only for people who both qualify to apply for a study or work permit at the border AND start and finish that application there.
You cannot simply fly to Canada and use a Service Canada office instead. Service Canada collection is for people already in Canada.
Appointments
You must give biometrics in person, and you need an appointment.
At a VAC, booking ahead is best, though some walk in or emergency appointments may be accommodated. At a Service Canada office or a United States ASC, an appointment is required.
Booking is free. Read that again, because this is where people get fleeced.
IRCC's own warning is blunt: "Biometrics appointments are free. Don't pay anyone for an appointment." Use the official IRCC site to find your VAC. Anyone charging you a booking fee is running a scam.
What to bring
Two documents, both of them:
Your Biometric Instruction Letter.
Your valid passport.
Asylum claimants and protected persons without a passport bring their refugee protection identity document or claimant document, valid or expired, with the photo attached, or a certified copy of a passport.
Some practical rules that catch people at the counter. Glasses are fine if your eyes are clearly visible and there is no glare. Sunglasses and tinted lenses are not, even prescription ones, even if your eyes show. Head coverings worn daily for religious or medical reasons are allowed provided your full face is visible with no shadows. Hair off the face.
And one that ruins appointments: your hands must be henna free. Cuts and cracked fingertips must be healed. If the machine cannot capture a clean print, you may have to come back and do the whole thing again.
The 10 year rule, and the trap inside it
Temporary residence applicants give biometrics once every 10 years. If you gave them in the last 10 years, they are automatically attached to your new visitor visa, work permit, study permit or extension. You do not repeat the process.
Here is the trap. IRCC cannot issue a visa or permit that runs beyond the expiry date of your biometrics. So if your biometrics expire in 18 months, your new permit cannot be issued for longer than 18 months, no matter what you asked for.
There is a fix, and almost nobody knows it. You can give your biometrics again voluntarily, when you apply, even though the old ones are still valid. That resets the 10 year clock and lets IRCC issue a longer document.
But you must do it at the time you apply. Once the visa or permit has been issued, you cannot give biometrics again to extend it.
Permanent residence works differently. You must give biometrics every single time you apply for permanent residence, even if you have given them before. There is no 10 year reuse for PR.
The reuse does run the other way, though. If you gave biometrics for a PR application and it is still open, IRCC will reuse those for a temporary residence application. If the PR application is refused, they cannot be reused for anything.
One more piece of good news. A refusal does not destroy your biometrics. They remain valid for 10 years even if the application they were given for was refused. Do not give them again on the strength of an old BIL. Reapply, pay the fee, and wait for a new BIL.
Check what you already have
Before you pay anything, use IRCC's biometrics validity check tool. It tells you whether your biometrics are still valid and exactly when they expire. Five minutes there can save you $85 and a trip.
After you give them
Giving biometrics is a processing step, not an approval. IRCC is explicit: it is one of the things you must do before your application can be processed.
Your fingerprints go to the RCMP for checks, may be shared with the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and are shared with CBSA so they can verify your identity when you arrive. The collection centres themselves, the VACs and ASCs and Service Canada offices, do not keep your biometric information.
IRCC does not publish a figure for how long after your appointment the application starts moving. If you see a confident "48 hours" or "3 business days" claim online, it is not from IRCC.
Common mistakes
- Sitting on the BIL. The 30 days start when it arrives, not when you get around to it.
- Using an old BIL from a previous application. This can get your current application refused.
- Paying someone to book your appointment. It is free.
- Assuming no VAC in your country means you are stuck. Go to any other VAC.
- Trying to give biometrics at the border after already receiving a BIL. Not allowed.
- Letting an old set of biometrics quietly shorten your new permit. If your biometrics expire in two years, your permit cannot run longer than that. Give them again when you apply.
- Giving biometrics again after a refusal, on the old letter. Reapply first.
Questions people actually ask
Prepared by KGraph Immigration. Last updated July 2026. General information, not legal advice.