Fingerprints/Criminal Record Check (Canadian Teachers)

I'm not from Canada but had a similar problem with my FBI background and the stupid apostille process. My recruiter (who is a total incompetent) mis-informed me of the process to get my apostille completed and told me to send the document to a state institution that would not provide the apostille unless the document had been notarized at a county clerks/court office because this state institution does not have federal fingerprints on file. He however neglected this ever so important step so 3 weeks after I sent it i found out that it did not receive the backup it needed. Which means a delay in payments and other things for me. I was able to find a department in Guam that could provide the verification but it's been such a hassle and the alternative would be to send it back to my home country to the department I should have sent it to the first time, but was told not to do so by my recruiter. The best advice is to look up the information for yourself if your recruiter is anything like mine he's just looking for a payday and could care less about you once you arrive.

Hey itisdale,
I am from the states too and am trying to decide whether to get my background check apostilled with the state or federal government.  I have heard both as options from different recruiters, with some telling me that Korea is switching over to a "federal only" process.. which method did you use and when did you go through this process?  Recently??
Thanks!!

Hi
I am South African not canadian but I reckon the same applies as we all need police clearance checks. I am staying on another year and I need to do all this paper work again even though I am not going home at all. Does anyone know how I go about the Police clearance check here in Korea? Do I get the apostle seal done here or send it back home? Any advice would help.
Hope you all well and enjoying Korea!

OK I've had a quick browse through this thread and it didn't seem to answer this question for me.

My girlfriend left Korea in August. She is now in Canada re-applying for the March 2012. Can anybody please tell me whether or not she needs to have her fingerprints taken or whether a 'regular' criminal record check will suffice? She has been told different things by different people, naturally.

I was in BC last August 2011.  I was returning to the same school for a second contract, but my trip home was during the summer vacation and before my contract expired in October. Of course being home, I did the paper work there where English is magic for getting things done. The RCMP told me that there are two types of Criminal Record Check one with a vulnerable sector search and the other without a criminal record check:

-The Domestic one which requires fingerprinting and a vulnerable sector search
-The other, for those working outside of Canada, does not require fingerprinting or a vulnerable sector search.   The RCMP counter clerks (not RCMP themselves) assured me that one w/o the fp or vss was fine, but they're not going to stand beside me at Korean Immigration.  Against all of their persuasion I opted for the costly route of having both done.  The Domestic one took 2.5 weeks to be ready.

When at Korean Immigration in Yangu, the clerk asked me for fingerprints, and I showed him the domestic criminal record check containing a vulnerable sector search and fingerprint authentication.  He took it, then asked me to do an electronic finger print check on the spot with a nearby electronic pad.   However, I have read other's Korean Immigration stories wherein RCMP fingerprints were not requested, nor was the expat printed on the spot.

Note: on the form she will fill out at Korean Immigration there is a line that goes something like "Depending on the individual case, Korean Immigration reserves the right to ask for additional documents"

To be very certain of what's required you could:
1.  call Korean Immigration at 1235. Their English is good, but they're a tad impatient.
2.  visit your gf's immigration office with a coteacher or bilingual friend and ask specific questions. Better yet, write out a list of what he/she said and have them sign it.
3.  suggest your girlfriend do both criminal record checks.

I submitted my RCMP fingerprint criminal record check to Korean immigration last year. Went to immigration yesterday and they told me that it is incomplete. When I submitted it last year I asked if I needed it to be varified or anything and they said that it was fine as it was, took it from me and entered it into their system. Now they're telling me that it needs to have a stamp from the consulate. If I don't get the stamp by the end of the year (originally they were telling me by the end of March this year!!!) I need to "voluntarily" leave the country. Since the fingerprints are a year old it's too late to get them varified so I'm now required to do the entire fingerprint process again and either to get someone in Canada to get the consulate to varify it for me ($4) or when they're sent back to Korea go up to Seoul and have the Canadian embassy varify it (57,000won). 

So does this mean you got everything done in Korea?  I'm looking to get my CRC done in Korea in time to apply to SMOE for September positions.  I'm currently living/working in Seoul (at a Hagwon) and my contract is up in July.  I'm not sure when they'll be hiring at SMOE for Sept positions, but I want to have the paper work in place/ready to go for when they do hire later on in the spring/early summertime. 

Does anyone know how long it'll take to get it done while in Korea; start to finish?  I've heard anywhere from 2-8 months from various people.  Trying to get as much info as possible.  Gonna call Canadian Embassy and Korean Immigration on Wed after the Lunar New Years.


새해 복 많이 받으세요 e'erybody!

I haven't been home since the summer of 2010 so I am now doing the entire process for the second time from Korea. I went to my local police station here and got my fingerprints taken. You can either have the embassy send you the RCMP form or you can use the Korean form, just make sure that everything that the RCMP needs is included. Some people have had difficulty at their local police station. Some are great. If you have problems with one, go to another. It all depends on the station. My local one is great. I've had my fingerprints taken 3 times there free of charge. The guy who does it has even been taking English classes to help out foreigners who need to get them done!

Then you need to send the fingerprints from Korea to the RCMP in Canada. The current processing time estimate on their website is approximately 12 weeks. They will then return the check to you through regular mail. You can have the fingerprints sent to you in Korea or if you give written permission they can be sent to a family member in Canada for you.

Once the criminal record check has been done the check then needs to be varified. You have two options if you are out of country. First you can go to the Canadian embassy in Seoul Monday - Friday 8:30am - 11:45 am, pay 57,500 won and they will varify it. The other option is to have it verified at the consulate in Canada. When I had my degree confirmed they wouldn't mail it to Korea even though the website suggests that they may. I am assuming that they won't send me my fingerprints either...so, what I plan to do is have the criminal record check sent to my mother. My mother will then send it to the consulate along with $4 to have it confirmed. It will then be sent back to her and then she will send it to me in Korea. When I had my degree confirmed in this way it was confirmed and sent back to my mother in less than a week. I'd say for the entire process to be completed you're looking at 4-6 months if your doing it from Korea. It is considerably less time if you are in Canada.

Are two criminal reference checks required or just one?

They accepted my notarized copy. Notarized by RCMP and the Korean consulate in Toronto

I just went to my local RCMP and got the VS check done for $35. It was sent to me in 2 days. No fingerprints were needed. Just had to get it notarized.
The RCMP website is awful. The 12 week processing time quoted is way off when applying from within Canada.

Is anyone getting their criminal check up done in korea?
its taking 4- 5 weeks. I was wondering if there are any other faster ways to get this done?

i believe approx. 2 months.
had fingerprints done in incheon around the 3rd feb. 2012 and mailed it via reg. air mail with a forwarding address in canada. my family received it today...so not as long as expected, but still need to get it stamped at a korean consulate and mailed back to me. good luck!

On the RCMP website, they specifically say that mailed-in applications should take about 8 weeks, but can take 120 days or more, and that you shouldn't contact them asking where it is until after those 120 days are up.

Also, a heads-up to any other Canadians out there -- even though your city/provincial police department may be in charge of administering national-level criminal record checks in your region, and even though they consult the same national database that the RCMP does, unless you specifically have a CRC from the RCMP (as in, it says RCMP on the paper), immigration will not accept it. Even if the Korean consulate back home stamps it. Maybe you'll get lucky and be able to argue it through / get someone at immigration who doesn't care, but the official policy is to reject anything that is not specifically issued by the RCMP.

We had our search done through the Edmonton Police Service and had no problems with it at all. We sent the original to the consulate with a notorized copy (this was done in February 2012). In the past, they would not accept just an original, we actually had it sent back to us and we had to get a notorized copy to send to them. (It took us about 2 weeks in Edmonton to get receive the papers back from the EPS.)

Okay - I am officially very, very confused now.

I just called Korean Immigration and spoke with a very patient, fluent English speaking fellow who told me the following:

Fingerprints are not required by Korean Immigration for the purposes of visa issuance for an E2 and the only reason fingerprints would be necessary is if our domestic governments required them in order to issue a criminal record check. The same goes for a vulnerable sector search (for Canadians) as he said that is only on the Canadian side of things and that Korea does not need that information.

He said that as long as it is at a national level, it will be accepted, fingerprints or not.

This confuses me because it contrary to almost everything I've heard up to this point about (for Canadians) having to mail their prints etc. off to Ottawa and wait 3-4 months.

I have a question about this too. I am still in Canada, and a particular recruiter is insisting that fingerprint-based checks are absolutely required by Korean immigration to issue the E-2 work permit, yet my local RCMP detachment issued me a check that did not require fingerprints (they said fingerprints are only required if there's someone with the same full name and birthdate as me, or if I have a criminal record and want to see a full list of convictions as the non-fingerprint based check will only say whether or not you have any convictions). According to this particular recruiter, this check will be refused by Korean immigration. Can anyone shed some light on this? The recruiter is Canadian-based, FWIW, so it can't be that they're from another country and just don't know how Canadian police work. I've contacted multiple recruiters, and no other recruiter has said anything like this to me.

Your recruiter is clueless.

You don't NEED an RCMP check, fingerprint or otherwise. ANY criminal record check which searches the NATIONAL RESPOSITORY will suffice. This could be issued by the local, provincial, RCMP or even native reservce police.

Here is EXACTLY what it says on the Korean immigration website (www.hikorea), in Korean, about CRCs.

<주요 국가 범죄경력증명서 발급기관 및 명칭 등(예시>

미국 : FBI(Federal Bureau of Investigation)범죄경력서, 주정부(State) 범죄경력증명서(미국 전역의 범죄경력이 포함되어 발급된 경우)
캐나다 : Royal Cannadian Mounted Police 발급 RCMP, National Repository of Criminal Records 등
영국 : Home Office, Police(Criminal Records Bureau, Disclosure Scotland, Access Northern Ireland, ACPO Criminal Records Office)등이 발급한 Basic Disclosure, Request for Information, ACPO Criminal Records Office Authentic Document 등
호주 : AFP(Australian Federal Police)발급 Standard Disclosure, National Police Certificate 등
남아프리카공화국 : South African Police Service 발급 Clearance Certificate 등
아이랜드 : The national police of the Republic of Iland 발급 Police Certificate 등
뉴질랜드 : Ministry of Juistice 발급 범죄경력서

Furthermore, from personal experience, I just submitted a check from some random police service (Coburg police in Ontario) to Korean immigration, and it was accepted for my E2 visa issurance #. It stated on the CRC that it was a search of the National Repository of Criminal Records maintained by the RCMP.

If you are getting fingerprints done at any point in the process, you are wasting your time and money. They are not needed at any point for an acceptable CRC from Canada.

Thank you for your very quick and informative reply.

The check I have is from the RCMP, with RCMP letterhead and all text in French and English, a signature from the relevant officer at my local station, and it specifically says that it searched in the "national repository for criminal records in Canada."

I'm not sure what I'm going to say to this recruiter, and it's really weird that they'd insist fingerprints are needed. You'd think that, being in Canada, they'd know about the relevant regulations.

First many recruiters ask for just RCMP is they are going for the general procedure.  For most recruiters, they know an CRC has to be a national check.  National RCMP.  Recruiters do not always look for the fineprint or get the details.

Also, it might have to be fingerprints because Venus is ascension,  the traffic to work was crappy, and the idiot behind the desk at immigration or consulate does not want to do any thinking.  So at times the best way is to go literally by the book.  Thus get the RCMP fingerprint.  So some recruiters will insist the best way is to cross those "t"'s and "i"'s in a specific way. 

Still for many immigration officials, they are not looking for RCMP.  All they are doing is checking for the stamp and Korean writing from the Consulate saying it is fine.

First off check your regions Korean Consulate page in Canada.  You will get some details of what is needed or good for CRC checks.  The Vancouver one gives the best details.   I think each consulate will be similar.  On the Vancouver they say an city or provincial check is fine.  As long as the National repository is checked. 

Me, I have done a Calgary Police check from Korea.  No fingerprints.  Little bit different paper shuffling but I got in a couple of weeks.  Plus thanks to a relative in Vancouver, help sped things up.

I have also got a RCMP name check done and verified in a DAY.  Got to love Vancouver.   Name checks from the RCMP should still be acceptable.  The time may be a bit longer but it can be done quicker then RCMP fingerprint check.

If you can and have the money, get the fingerprint check done and in the pipe.  Then, get a name check done, and verified.   Tell recruiter you have that and proceed.   Yet, if things go bad and the name check is not accepted, you have the RCMP coming.

Good Luck

I had a nation-wide CRC from VPD without the fingerprints when I came to Korea in September 2012 through EPIK. The Consulate in Vancouver did not mention anything about fingerprints and it was a faster and cheaper option (it takes maximum of 4 weeks for a non-fingerprint check as opposed to 3 months) so I took it. I know that the EPIK web site and some recruiting agencies will tell you that you have to have a fingerprint based check but I didn't and yet here I am. Nobody ever raised any issues about that. I went to have it notarized and then I got a stamp from the koraen consluate in vancouver.
A faster way to get a fingerprint based check is through the Commissionaires. They will charge you overall 80 bucks or so, which includes their service fee (sending the fingerprints electronically to the RCMP) and the RCMP fee, and you will get the letter from the RCMP within 2 weeks in your mail (if you are in Canada). Of course, this can only work if you are in canada as you have to go the the Commissionaires office in person to do this.

how long are rcmp crc's typically valid for?

All CRCs are valid for six months from date of issue from police/government agency.  So in  general more the four months old, consider getting a new one.  If more then five and just starting visa application, it is pushing it.