There are two ways to get an NBI clearance while you’re in Canada. If your last clearance was issued after 2014 and nothing about you has changed, renew it online and have it delivered to someone in the Philippines. Otherwise, get your fingerprints on NBI Form No. 5, at the Philippine Embassy or a consulate or at the RCMP or an accredited agency. Have the form certified by the post, then send it to the NBI in Manila by mail or through a representative.
If it’s for Canadian immigration, IRCC calls it the NBI Multi-purpose Clearance Certificate. It has to be issued after you last lived in the Philippines, so a clearance from before you moved won’t do.
| Fastest route | Online renewal, if your last clearance was issued after 2014 and nothing changed |
| Otherwise | NBI Form No. 5 with rolled fingerprints, certified by a Philippine post in Canada |
| Fingerprints | At the post, or at the RCMP, a police identification section or an RCMP-accredited agency |
| Post fee | About C$34–C$39, depending on the post |
| NBI fee | ₱200 when mailed (₱130 clearance + ₱70 mailing) |
| Time | Plan for several weeks to a few months with Form No. 5 |
| For IRCC | Must be issued after you last lived in the Philippines for 6 months or more |
We are not the NBI, a Philippine post or IRCC. This is an independent guide, not immigration advice. Follow your post’s current instructions and IRCC’s checklist for your application.
Jump to:
Which route do you need?
| Your situation | Route |
|---|---|
| Last clearance issued after 2014, no changes to your details | Online renewal, delivered to someone in the Philippines |
| Your first NBI clearance | NBI Form No. 5 |
| Last clearance issued in 2014 or earlier | NBI Form No. 5 |
| Your name, civil status or other details changed | NBI Form No. 5 |
| You lost your old clearance and can’t find the NBI ID number | NBI Form No. 5, unless your family can find the number |
Route 1: Renew online from Canada
On clearance.nbi.gov.ph, choose NBI Clearance Online Renewal, enter the NBI ID number from your old clearance, and give the name and address of someone in the Philippines who will receive it. Pay online, and the clearance is delivered there, usually within 3–10 working days. Here’s our step-by-step NBI online renewal guide.
Your family then scans it for you and couriers the original to Canada. For most online IRCC applications, a clear scan is what you upload, so ask them to send you a sharp colour scan of both sides as soon as it arrives.
Route 2: NBI Form No. 5 through a Philippine post in Canada
Which post serves your province
| Post | Area it serves |
|---|---|
| Embassy, Ottawa | The Ottawa–Gatineau area and Eastern Ontario, Quebec, the Atlantic provinces and Nunavut |
| Consulate General, Toronto | Ontario outside the Ottawa area, and Manitoba |
| Consulate General, Calgary | Alberta and Saskatchewan |
| Consulate General, Vancouver | British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories |
Honorary consulates generally don’t process NBI forms. Check your post’s website for its current booking system before you go or mail anything.
Where to get your fingerprints taken
The NBI needs rolled fingerprints on NBI Form No. 5. In Canada you can usually have them taken at:
- The Philippine post, where it does fingerprinting by appointment.
- An RCMP detachment or a local police identification section.
- An RCMP-accredited fingerprinting agency, which is often the quickest to book in big cities.
Posts differ here. Toronto, for example, asks applicants to have prints taken at the RCMP or an accredited agency and to include the business card of the person who took them. Whoever takes the prints should sign the card and add their name and position.
What to prepare
- NBI Form No. 5, filled in on both sides in black ink
- 2×2 colour photos with a white background, taken within the last one to three months. Ottawa and Vancouver ask for two, Toronto for one
- A photocopy of your passport’s data page
- The post’s fee, usually by money order or bank draft payable to the post
- A self-addressed Xpresspost envelope, if you’re mailing the form to the post
For how to fill in the card, including the name order married women should use, see our guide to NBI Form No. 5.
Post fees
| Post | Fee | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Embassy, Ottawa | C$33.75 | Money order or bank draft payable to the Philippine Embassy |
| Consulate General, Toronto | C$36.25 | Postal money order or bank draft payable to the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto |
| Consulate General, Vancouver | C$38.75 (+ C$15.50 same-day) | Check the consulate’s payment options |
| Consulate General, Calgary | Check with the consulate | Check the consulate’s payment options |
These are the amounts the posts have published. Confirm before you pay, because they change with exchange rates.
Sending your form to the NBI
Once the post has certified your form, you have two choices:
- A representative in the Philippines (usually faster). Courier the certified form, a copy of your passport and your written authority to a relative or friend. They submit it at the NBI Clearance Center on UN Avenue, Manila, and collect the clearance.
- Mail it to the NBI yourself. Send it to the Mailed Clearance Section, 3rd Floor, NBI Clearance Building, UN Avenue, Ermita, Manila 1000, with the ₱200 fee. The NBI mails the clearance back to your Canadian address.
Paying ₱200 from Canada is the tricky part. Some banks no longer issue peso drafts for this, so email mailedclearance@nbi.gov.ph or call 0915 689 3113 or 0920 122 3327 to confirm the accepted payment method before you mail anything.
Your representative needs written authority; here’s a sample authorization letter for your NBI clearance. Our guide to getting an NBI clearance from abroad compares the two routes in more detail.
Using your NBI clearance for IRCC
Canadian immigration has its own rules about the Philippine clearance. Getting these right saves a request for more documents later.
- The right document: IRCC asks for the NBI Multi-purpose Clearance Certificate, which is the regular NBI clearance.
- Timing: If you still live in the Philippines, it must be issued no more than 6 months before you apply. If you’ve left, it must be issued after the last time you lived there for 6 months or more since age 18. A clearance you got before moving to Canada usually doesn’t qualify.
- Express Entry: After an invitation to apply, you have 60 days to submit. If the clearance won’t arrive in time, upload proof that you requested it, such as payment receipts, courier tracking and emails, with a letter of explanation.
- Remarks: If your clearance says “No Criminal Record”, “No Pending Case” or “Record as Stated”, IRCC wants a written explanation from the NBI, complete court documents on the case, and your own explanation.
- No translation is needed, because the clearance is in English.
If your clearance has a remark because of a HIT, our guide to NBI clearance HITs explains what each remark means and how to deal with it.
IRCC doesn’t ask for an apostille on the NBI clearance. Some Canadian employers, schools or regulators might, since Canada joined the Apostille Convention in 2024. If one does, your representative can get it from the DFA; see our guide to booking a DFA apostille appointment.
How long it takes
| Route | What adds up |
|---|---|
| Online renewal + courier to Canada | About 3–10 working days for delivery in the Philippines, plus the courier to Canada |
| Form No. 5 + representative | Post processing (a few days) + courier to the Philippines + NBI processing (up to about 5 working days) + courier back |
| Form No. 5 + mail to the NBI | The same steps, but international mail both ways makes it the slowest option |
If you’re applying for permanent residence, start as soon as you know you’ll need the clearance, well before an invitation to apply.
Mistakes Filipinos in Canada often make
- Submitting a clearance issued before moving to Canada for an IRCC application.
- Flat fingerprints, or a card the officer didn’t sign.
- A money order payable to the wrong office, or the wrong amount.
- Mailing to the old Taft Avenue address instead of UN Avenue.
- Waiting for an invitation to apply before starting, then running out of the 60 days.
- Not checking the remarks on the clearance before uploading it.
FAQs: NBI clearance from Canada
Usually, yes. Philippine posts in Canada accept rolled prints on NBI Form No. 5 taken by the RCMP, a police identification section or an RCMP-accredited agency. Some also take them at the post. Check your post’s instructions first.
No. IRCC asks for the NBI Multi-purpose Clearance Certificate without an apostille. Get one only if another Canadian office asks for it.
Only through online renewal, if your last clearance was issued after 2014 and nothing has changed. A new application needs your fingerprints on NBI Form No. 5.
If you’ve left the Philippines, it must be issued after the last time you lived there for 6 months or more. If you still live there, it must be less than 6 months old when you apply.
The Philippine Consulate General in Calgary, which serves Alberta and Saskatchewan.
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