Biometrics Requirement Visitor Extend PR Application Process

[Harjap]

My cousin is a citizen of Brazil and she is currently living in Canada. Her current visitor visa is expiring soon so she has applied to have it extended. However, now she is being asked to provide biometrics. I read on the IRCC website that being a Brazilian national, she should be exempt from the biometrics requirement. When she extended her visitor visa last time in June 2019, she was not asked for biometrics. She has also recently applied for permanent residency and she has already provided biometrics for that application. She is really frustrated because she does not want to pay twice for biometrics. Does she need to do biometrics again for her visitor visa extension or can she ignore it?

[Rajpal (Admin)]

The biometrics requirements as per section 12.1 IRPR can be divided into the following 2 categories

1 ) Visitor Visa, Study and Work Permit Applications:

For these applications, you only need to give your biometrics once every 10 years. This means that if you have already given biometrics in the past 10 years as part of an application for a temporary resident visa, work or study permit and as they’re still valid, you don’t need to give them again.

2 ) Permanent Residence Applications:

For PR applications, you must give your biometrics and pay the associated fee each time even if you have given them in the past as part of another application.

In your cousin’s case, since she has not provided biometrics in the past for her temporary resident visa, she will now have to provide them for her extend of status application. The biometrics she provided for her permanent residency application cannot be used as part of her extend of status application. Unfortunately, she will have to pay twice for biometrics (once for PR application & once for extend of status application).

For further information about biometrics, please see the following link: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/campaigns/biometrics/facts.html