What You
Must Know About Getting a
Canadian Passport
Canada Travel Resources |
Immigration To Canada
 As
of January 23, 2007, a new American law requires everyone entering the
United States by air to have a valid Canada passport. This has a lot more
people getting their Canada passports than ever before.
Most people expect
that applying for a Canadian passport either for the first time or
replacing an expired one is stressful. People who have been through this
process have many tales of woe regarding the long waiting period at the
government offices, scuttling to locate and get all the required forms, and
then sweating over the application form for accuracy, else the submission
gets delayed.
Going through such a process can
undoubtedly be hellish for those who have time constraints. Following the
below-mentioned steps can however save you a lot of trouble and speed up the
process resulting in quick approval:
Get your Canada passport application
form. These application forms are now available online are
interactive in nature. They guide the applicants through all the procedures
very well to minimize the possibilities of errors and eliminate chances of
omission. You can also get them at a Canada postal outlet or passport
service location.
Take passport size photos. You need
to take a passport size photograph and its two identical copies, not more
than a year old.
Get your form and photo identity cards
signed by a guarantor. Just take a print out of the form mentioned above and
fill it accurately checking all your queries online. You need to have at
least one proof of your identity that has your name and signature; the
document must have been issued to you by the provincial, federal, or
municipal government. One such document could be your provincial driver's
license. You must submit the originals of all the documents along with their
photocopies. After the necessary verification, the original copies of all
the documents submitted by you will be returned. In case, you are submitting
only copies of all documents, your guarantor must sign them all.
Obtaining a
guarantor's signature on the Canadian passport application is a must.
Generally, a guarantor is a person who knows you personally for not less
than two years and can verify the accuracy of your statements and documents
supporting your Canadian passport application. In fact, the guarantor must
also sign one of your passport size photographs too along with the documents
supporting your identity and citizenship.
Obtain proof of your valid Canadian
citizenship. You need to have your birth certificate or that of your
Canadian citizenship. In case you are born outside Canada, you may produce
certificates of Canadian Citizenship, Naturalization, Retention of Canadian
Citizenship, or Registration of Birth Abroad.
Using a previous Canadian passport
as supporting identification. A previous Canadian passport may be used a
supporting identification provided that all of the following conditions are
met: the passport is still valid or is year after its expiry date; the
passport itself is submitted with the application form; the name on the
passport is the same as the one on the application,
On average, the passport application
process takes 10 days if you are applying in person and 20 days if you
applied by mail. The Canadian government also provides urgent or express
services for emergency or compassionate reasons on a case-by-case basis,
applications must be in person and submitted with a proof of emergency.
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