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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 12:50 am Post subject: Canada Improves Passport Renewal Process |
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Finally!! No more hunting down doctors and lawyers to sign the back of passport photos. For those of us with Canadian citizen children and live abroad, this is truly great news.
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Passport process will get easier for Canadians
Beginning this summer, Canadians will be able to renew their passports without submitting proof of citizenship or a guarantor declaration, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said in a news release.
The guarantor process will also be simplified so that most citizens can act as guarantors for first-time applicants. Currently, only professionals in certain occupations can do so. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 2:17 am Post subject: |
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| You didn't need a professional to act as a guarantor if you re-applied for a passport overseas. Anyways, the new rules are good, if only they could extend the passport validity to 10 years... |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:13 pm Post subject: Re: Canada Improves Passport Renewal Process |
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| The Lemon wrote: |
Finally!! No more hunting down doctors and lawyers to sign the back of passport photos. For those of us with Canadian citizen children and live abroad, this is truly great news.
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Passport process will get easier for Canadians
Beginning this summer, Canadians will be able to renew their passports without submitting proof of citizenship or a guarantor declaration, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said in a news release.
The guarantor process will also be simplified so that most citizens can act as guarantors for first-time applicants. Currently, only professionals in certain occupations can do so. |
Yes, this is good news and especially so since I'm up for renewal in a bit. It's going to be great to just walk in there with a few documents and my old passport when I get a new one. |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| You didn't need a professional to act as a guarantor if you re-applied for a passport overseas. |
All Canadian passport applications need a guarantor, at least until the rule changes come into effect.
However, if you can't find someone to sign (this happens if you've lived in the country less than the two years necessary for a professional to be able to sign), things got worse: you have to pay a lawyer or other notary some money to sign the "Declaration in lieu of guarantor" form, in addition to all the photos and other documents the guarantor usually has to sign.
http://www.ppt.gc.ca/abroad/guarantor.aspx?lang=e
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294428
Add two young children to your own documents and this is a frequent hassle. The new rules are great, though a bit late in coming for my situation. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 4:51 am Post subject: |
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| The Lemon wrote: |
| jvalmer wrote: |
| You didn't need a professional to act as a guarantor if you re-applied for a passport overseas. |
All Canadian passport applications need a guarantor, at least until the rule changes come into effect.
However, if you can't find someone to sign (this happens if you've lived in the country less than the two years necessary for a professional to be able to sign), things got worse: you have to pay a lawyer or other notary some money to sign the "Declaration in lieu of guarantor" form, in addition to all the photos and other documents the guarantor usually has to sign.
http://www.ppt.gc.ca/abroad/guarantor.aspx?lang=e
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294428
Add two young children to your own documents and this is a frequent hassle. The new rules are great, though a bit late in coming for my situation. |
Not my experience, I renewed my passport Jan 2006 in Seoul. I didn't have a guarantor, so the lady at the embassy was my guarantor and it was her who filled out the "Declaration in lieu of guarantor" form. I can't remember how much it costs, but I'm sure it was under 80,000 won for the whole application. |
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gmat
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:55 am Post subject: |
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The new rules only apply for applications done from within Canada  |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:16 am Post subject: |
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| gmat wrote: |
| The new rules only apply for applications done from within Canada |
Not true. At the same time as the new guarantor rules, they also announced a "small form" application that only applies to within Canada applicants. We don't get that:
http://www.ppt.gc.ca/newsroom/news.aspx?lang=e&page=/newsroom/20070608c.aspx
But the guarantor thing is world-wide, and absolutely allows me to be a guarantor for my daughter, though we live outside Canada.
http://www.ppt.gc.ca/newsroom/news.aspx?lang=e&page=/newsroom/20070608d.aspx
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New Guarantor Policy
On October 1, 2007, Passport Canada will introduce a simpler guarantor policy, which will allow most Canadian adult passport holders to act as guarantors.
Under this new policy, to be a guarantor, a passport holder:
* Must hold a five-year Canadian passport that is valid or has been expired for no more than one year,
* May be a family member,
* May reside at the same address as the applicant,
* Must have known the applicant for at least two years, and
* Must be a Canadian citizen 18 years of age or older and must have been 16 years of age or older when they applied for their own passport.
By moving to a Canadian passport holder criterion for guarantor declarations, Passport Canada will be able to verify guarantor information from its own database, and will not have to rely on occupational directories. |
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gmat
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:31 am Post subject: |
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Here is the info regarding the simplified passport renewal - not the new guarantor policy which begins in October, 2007.
Simplified Passport Renewal Program http://www.pptc.gc.ca/newsroom/news.aspx?lang=e&page=/newsroom/20070608c.aspx
The Simplified Passport Renewal Program will be available as of August 15, 2007, and is part of a broader effort to modernize Canadian passport services.
It will allow Canadian citizens who meet certain eligibility criteria to renew their passport using a shorter form and without submitting documentary evidence of citizenship, supplementary identification and a guarantor declaration. Under the renewal program, passport applicants will only be required to submit the shorter form along with two new photos, the application fee and their last passport.
Canadians who meet the following eligibility criteria will be able to benefit from this program:
They must be residing in Canada at the time they apply.
They must have resided in Canada at the time of their previous application.They were 16 years old or over at the time of their previous application.
Their previous passport:
Must have been valid for five years,
Must have been issued after January 31, 2002,
Was never damaged or reported as lost or stolen, and
Must have been issued under their current name. |
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wings
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:55 am Post subject: |
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| We need to start a letter writing campaign to have passports extended to 10 years! This change would be beneficial for so many people! write your MP (or an MP) and let them know that you want this to change! |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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| We need to start a letter writing campaign to have passports extended to 10 years! This change would be beneficial for so many people! write your MP (or an MP) and let them know that you want this to change! |
I'm with you. I can't help but think the passport is an indirect tax. The 5 year expiration thing seems designed to bring in more revenue in fees. Note the huge difference in price between the 24 and 48 page passports. Is paper really that expensive?
I live in a region where if I drive to a town 6 hours away and back, I'll get 12 stamps in my passport - I run out of pages quickly at that rate. They should give us 48 page, 10 year passports for what we pay. Added bonus - faster turnaround if fewer renewals are happening.
Gmat: Re-read my last post. What I wrote in the OP, "No more hunting down doctors and lawyers to sign the back of passport photos. For those of us with Canadian citizen children and live abroad, this is truly great news" - aka the new guarantor policy - will indeed apply to Canadians who live abroad come October, as far as I can tell. |
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:13 am Post subject: |
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| The Lemon wrote: |
Note the huge difference in price between the 24 and 48 page passports. Is paper really that expensive?
l. |
I think it was only about 5000 won a year ago for the extra 24 pages. |
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gmat
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:03 am Post subject: |
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Lemon - wasn't arguing with you  |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:07 am Post subject: |
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| jajdude wrote: |
| The Lemon wrote: |
Note the huge difference in price between the 24 and 48 page passports. Is paper really that expensive?
l. |
I think it was only about 5000 won a year ago for the extra 24 pages. |
You are indeed correct - my mistake. For some reason I had it in my brain that it was a large difference. Hard to believe I ever opted for 24 pages at those prices.
Gmat - not arguing either. Just that your posts worried me that I'd find something somewhere that excluded us non-residents from the guarantor stuff (after all, we're excluded from the streamlined application), thus there was a hint of "I hope I'm right" in it. My tone was like whining to dad when mom already said I could have the car. |
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