Canadian passport renewal from abroad
Replies: 15 - Last Post: Feb 3, 2013 1:28 PM Last Post By: RayitoG
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Canadian passport renewal from abroad
Are there any Canadians out there that have any experience renewing their passports in South East Asia? I am aware that the Canadian government will finally be coming out with new 10 year passports in June or July. A much needed upgrade. My passport is falling to pieces. But, I'm running out of pages and I have read that the government doesn't simply add pages to passport. You must get a new passport. Is this true? The passport folks website was not not very helpful. Hopefully someone out there can help me out!2
You definitely can not add pages to a Canadian passport, the new 10yr e passport comes out in July & worth the wait if you can manage it as you get ripedoff $100 for renewing abroad.http://www.ppt.gc.ca/index.aspx?lang=eng
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I had my passport renewed in Bangkok a few years ago. It was pretty sraightforward but you'll need some back up ID like a drivers license etc. I think you can apply through almost any Canadian embassy but I deliberately went to Bangkok because I figured they would deal with these kinds of things all the time given the volume of Canadian travelers that go there. It only took about 10 days as I recall.5
My recollection was that they needed 2 pieces of non passport ID one of which had to be photo ID. I only had one ID with me which was my drivers license. They made me sign an affadavit swearing that I was a Canadian citizen which was an additional fee of around $50 I think. Because I was not able to produce a birth certificate, the passport I received was only valid for one year but it could be extended to the full term once I submitted the birth certificate.When I arrived back in Canada a few months later I mailed my passport and birth certificate to the passport office and I was able to get it extended to the full 5 years. It was all a relatively hassle free and efficient process. I'm not sure if that would be the case however if you applied to the embassy in somewhere like Laos or Burma though. I hope this helps.
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I do have an Alberta drivers license and photo ID Quebec medicare with me. Hopefully these will both qualify me to not need a birth certificate. Even if I did have enough pages available in passport, the damn thing will expire March 2014 therefore not allow me travel to most countries after October. Hope my experience will be quick and painless at the embassy. A one or two year passport wouldn't be such a bad thing. It would allow me to get the new 10 year passport when I get back home during the holidays. The only downside would be having to pay double the fees! Thanks guys!8
I renewed mine in Delhi a few years ago. Took four weeks. I had asked in Kathmandu, and they said it would take six weeks, since Kathmandu is not a major embassy (or something). I had to produce the usual bunch of ID which was fine, since I had my birth certificate with me. Had to run around and get my passport photos notarized, which was annoying but fine (they gave me some addresses).I produced a bunch of references, but since I couldn't get my photos signed by a guarantor, I had to take the oath. The 50 dollar oath-taking fee was a kick in the teeth. I think, however, that the new passport application has eliminated the need for a guarantor to sign your pictures.
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I'm assuming the embassy allowed you to keep your old passport while it was being renewed in Delhi. How did it work for traveling in India after your passport was issued? I remember last year when I was in India, every time I would check into a hotel the clerk would always ask to see my passport, take down my passport number and Indian visa number. Must not be so simple with two passports? Getting around India without a passport seems virtually impossible. If they do ask for a guarantor, must it be a relative or will close friends be enough to vouch for me really being me. I guess I can deal with an extra 50$ or 100$ fee, but I'll make sure to have things well in order to avoid major complications. I haven't looked much into the new chip passport Canada will start issuing in July, but at least 10 years is reasonable. Lets hope they give us 48 pages as well. The 24 page passport fills up fast especially when certain countries are putting full page sticker visas and stamps next to those full page stickers. Wish I could have waited until July! Cheers11
Haven't renewed mine abroad but in Canada the old one must be sent in, can't see it being any different any where else in the world.Kind of sucks but I would recommend traveling to places not requiring full pages, then rent an apartment & hunker down in Bangkok until July when the new ones come out, unless they are only 48 pages which would be useless on a 10 yr one.
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I've renewed overseas, and my passport was kept by the Embassy for the duration of the renewal process (3 or 4 weeks).During that time, I needed to renew a visa, so the Embassy issued a letter explaining the situation. When I went for the new visa, the letter was stamped with the visa.
If you want a passport with more pages, don't just hope for one -- you'll have to enquire if there is one and ask for it. In Australia, it's called a Business passport, and you have to ask for it. I don't know what Canada offers.
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Canada offers the regular 24 page, if you are a mind reader there's an unadvertised 48, have seen nothing to say how many in the 10 yr version.14
Actually, I traveled around India with just a couple of photocopies. Seemed to be okay. The hotels didn't care. I even went through all the checkpoints on the way up to Kashmir with only the photocopies. Your mileage may vary. I was probably stupid, but I survived.The problem with a guarantor is that it can't just be a friend... it has to be a person who has known you for three years, but is also an upstanding member of society, based on profession: doctor (but not nurse), dentist, professor (but not teacher), clergymember, whatever. But again I think that has since been removed. Even back in Canada it was possible to substitute an oath for a guarantor, so the requirement was pointless.
RayitoG: I was surprised that there isn't even a check-box to request the 48 page version. You simply have to ask for it. Curious. The 48-page fee was five dollars for me. Wonder if that has gone up.
