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Biometrics Field Trial for Temporary Resident Visa Application in Hong Kong and Seattle

This is to inform you that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will be conducting a six-month Field Trial beginning October 19, 2006, affecting all temporary resident visa applications (visitors, students and workers) until April 2007. The purpose of this Field Trial is to test the impact of the use of biometrics on operations.

A“biometric” is a physical feature which is unique to you, such as your fingerprints, face or voice. CIC will be testing facial recognition and fingerprint recognition.

How will the Field Trial affect my visa application?

CIC will ask you to provide your photograph and fingerprints as part of the temporary resident visa application process.

In order to test potential biometrics systems, CIC requires each applicant to submit photographs that comply with new international standards as outlined in the application kit. The photograph will then be scanned and saved to a chip placed under your visa. This chip will be read upon your arrival in Canada at Port of Entry (POE) listed below. If you apply or pick up your visa in person or attend an interview, you will be asked to provide your fingerprints at the visa office. Should your application be completed entirely by mail, you will be asked to provide your fingerprints (by having your fingers scanned) when you arrive in Vancouver International Airport, or Douglas Highway or Pacific Highway border crossings.

The scanned information (photograph and fingerprints) will be transmitted via protected channel to a database at CIC National Headquarters in Ottawa, Canada.

What will CIC do with the information collected during the Field Trial?

It is of the utmost importance to CIC to protect your privacy during the course of your application. Therefore, CIC, its visa offices and the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA)’s participating border offices will strictly adhere to Canada’s Privacy Act. Should you be interested in reviewing this Act you can find it at the following Web site: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/P-21/95414.html

The photograph that you will be providing the Visa Office will be used in establishing your identity and will be scanned and saved on a chip that will be read by a CBSA Officer at the POE, for examination purposes, upon your arrival in Canada. However, the scans of your fingerprints will not be used to make a decision in either granting you a visa or entry to Canada. The information will be strictly protected in a secure database stored in Ottawa where it will be used only for statistical purposes.

After the Field Trial, what will happen to my information?

Your biometric personal information will be destroyed no later than three months after the closing of the six-month Field Trial which is planned to end in April 2007.

If you have any further inquiries please contact your visa office by visiting the following Web sites:

• Seattle, U.S.A –
  www.seattle.gc.ca or
  www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/can-am/seattle/rightnav/
  instructions_application-en.asp
• Hong Kong, China –
  www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/asia/hongkong/
  immigration/p1152-en.asp or
  www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/asia/hongkong/menu-en.asp