Get fingerprinted at an RCMP-accredited location, a police station, RCMP detachment, or private fingerprinting agency. Tell them specifically that the check is for international use, for a Spanish visa. This matters: if they submit it as a domestic name-based check instead of a fingerprint-based check, Spain will reject it outright, and you start from zero.

If you are outside Canada, RCMP-accredited fingerprinting services do exist internationally. Contact them, or use a service that provides ink-on-card fingerprint kits that can be mailed to an accredited Canadian agency.

RCMP headquarters in Ottawa runs your prints against the national criminal record database. Turnaround is 7–10 business days under normal conditions for a Canadian mailing address.  The check is mailed directly to you from Ottawa.

RCMP sends results via Canada post in a non trackable postal service and it takes 2-3 weeks for delivery in the USA and Canada. 

When your RCMP Criminal Record Check arrives, examine it carefully. Ensure your full legal name, including middle names if they appear on your passport, exactly matches. The RCMP check uses the name you provided during fingerprinting. For example, if your passport shows James Michael Robertson but your RCMP check says James Robertson, some consular officers may flag this as a discrepancy. Contact the RCMP immediately to correct any mismatch. 

Also, confirm the issuing authority shown is RCMP Ottawa, and the result is negative if you have no record. If anything looks wrong, like name format, address, or contact, contact the RCMP immediately. Correcting an error at this stage takes days. Discovering it at the consulate takes months.

Mail the original RCMP check to Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa with three things: the completed EXT-2165 Authentication Request form, your payment ( by cheque payable to Receiver General for Canada), and a prepaid return envelope. No notarization needed, the RCMP is a federal body whose signature GAC already has on file.

Now you wait, and this is the part that catches most applicants off guard. Normal processing takes 5-7 weeks During peak periods (September through December), this regularly extends to 9-10 weeks. Check GAC's current posted processing estimate at international.gc.ca before planning your timeline; the estimate changes monthly. Plan so your document is ready and valid when you submit your visa application.

Once the apostilled RCMP check is in your hands, it goes to a traductor jurado, a sworn translator registered with Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The translation alone is sufficient; the apostille covers the original document. Do not commission this translation until the apostille arrives; the translator needs to translate the apostilled version, not an earlier copy.