How long will you keep my fingerprints and photo (biometrics)?

We’ll keep your fingerprints and photo for 15 years from the date you gave your most recent biometrics, unless one of the following situations below applies to you. In these cases, we’ll keep your fingerprints and photo until your 100th birthday:

• You became a Canadian permanent resident.
• You made a claim for refugee protection in Canada at any time.
• You’re inadmissible to Canada.
• You have an exclusion order or deportation order that’s come into force, but has not yet been enforced.
• You’re barred from entering Canada as a result of an exclusion order or deportation order that has been enforced, and you haven’t received an authorization to return to Canada.

If you were previously in one of the situations listed above, but that’s no longer the case, we’ll keep your fingerprints and photo for the longer period of the following:

• 15 years from the date of most recent biometrics collection, or
• 5 years beyond the date you’re no longer in any of the situations listed above

If you’re granted Canadian citizenship

If you’ve been granted Canadian citizenship, we’ll delete your biometrics within 2 weeks of receiving your signed oath of citizenship.