Hi all,
i applied for citizenship in Feb 2019, IP in May 2019, got Fingerprint request on mid may ,done and sent to IRCC.
i called them yesterday, they said i passed the fingerprints and now they started background check,
i forget to ask the agent , what is the difference between fingerprint and background check.
isnt both checking criminality history?
is background check, same as the background check a person does during employment or it is deeper check?
how long does it take to complete? is it based on nationality as well? travels? travels to US..etc?
i never been to US, will that speed it up?
thx
FINGERPRINT REQUESTS:
Fingerprint requests can be for a variety of reasons. While the most common reason is to verify identity, there are also various reasons why the fingerprints are needed to verify identity, and various contexts in which this is done. A typical example is that the RCMP has identified a name-record hit in its databases that might be or might not be (often it is NOT) the same person as the applicant, so there is a finger print request to verify if that record relates to the applicant or to someone else, such as someone with a similar name.
It appears the vast majority of finger print requests do NOT signal any significant issues or problems. Many forum participants have reported MINIMAL delays notwithstanding a fingerprint request. That is, the fingerprint request is NO big deal for most.
The fact there has been a fingerprint request means the application is subject to "non-routine" processing, but these are so common and so often do not sidetrack the process, as a practical matter the process is essentially routine.
That said, sometimes the finger print request is triggered by information that is in fact about the applicant, which can be relevant to real issues, ranging from an arrest record to a security flag, or other potential reasons to investigate whether there is a prohibition. The vast, vast majority of applicants in this situation already know what is likely triggering concern. Applicants generally know if they have ever been arrested, or there is reason why they might be a suspect for a serious crime, or they have been involved or associated with certain groups or organizations that would trigger security concerns.
BACKGROUND CHECKS:
Help centre telephone agents notoriously overstate the "background" check aspect of citizenship application processing. For sure, the background checks STARTED before there was a fingerprint request because the background checks start at the same time as AOR and a GCMS citizenship application file is opened. There is a GCMS background check each and every time any IRCC official takes any action on the application, so that particular "background" check is done repeatedly throughout the process. There is a significant likelihood that the fingerprint request itself, if not random, was triggered by information seen in some aspect of conducting a background check.
References to "background" checks are often about the more specific formal background
clearances that are requested from the RCMP and CSIS, which are (in general terms) respectively criminality and security background screening. In processing citizenship applications, the first referral to these agencies to request a clearance is, again, made at the same time as AOR and the opening of the application file. But IRCC can make a referral to either agency requesting an
updated clearance during the course of processing a citizenship application.
And sometimes it is one of these agencies that requests fingerprints before it will complete its check and provide the respective clearance . . . or respond with information about a criminality or security concern. (Some may think it odd that RCMP might communicate to IRCC that it needs the client's fingerprints, and then IRCC requests the client obtain fingerprints which is typically facilitated by the RCMP, resulting in the RCMP providing the fingerprints to IRCC, so that IRCC can in turn submit them back to the RCMP to complete its criminality clearance . . . but
bureaucracies are what bureaucracies do, and a lot of what they do is done in silos; there are fixed procedures to be followed.)
BUT when the help centre call agents tell clients applying for citizenship that now processing is waiting for a "background" check, that is often an overly general deflection. I and others have discussed this at length in other topics. For the vast majority of applicants it just means that the application is in queue waiting for a processing agent or the responsible citizenship officer to take the next step in processing the application. It mostly means
the applicant is still in WAIT and WATCH for NOTICE from IRCC mode. Does not offer any clue about how much longer that wait might be.
That said, yes there are SOME applicants for whom there are indeed criminality or security concerns, and particularly if there are security concerns involving information from a foreign source, these can result in a long wait for the respective clearance (especially if CSIS). BUT again, applicants in this situation are usually aware of the risk of this and why. This should be no surprise to such applicants.
The rest need not worry about this.
Again, there are some extensive discussions of what can be involved in the background checks in other topics here. It is a big subject. The scope of background screening can vary widely from one applicant to another. Like any typical investigatory process, there are levels of inquiry. For the vast majority of applicants there is no need for IRCC, or the RCMP, or CSIS, to waste resources pursuing higher or more intensive levels of inquiry . . . but when information triggers a concern, of course the level of inquiry is elevated. With no cap on how extensive or deep or wide the inquiries can go . . . just that they will ordinarily NOT go to any higher level of inquiry unless there is cause . . . which again means that the vast majority have no reason to worry . . . BUT if there is reason to worry, the applicant knows his own history and should know why there is reason to worry.
