Anyone have Passports Expiring?

[Frozen2014]

I did my daughter's passport renewal at a Service Canada outlet beginning of March. It said that it should come back on March 31.

I made a status request online and the passport is processed... but everything is on hold, so they're not even shipping out passports at this point.

My daughter is a dual citizen, so technically she could travel with her UK passport or maybe even her NEXUS, but we aren't leaving the country anytime soon, so it's fine to be in limbo for the time being.

Don't you need to do a new passport vs renewal for a child?

 

[starvenger]

It was a new passport application but I tend to say renewal because for all intents and purposes, it is one.

 

[isabellea]

Semi off topic here, but has anyone heard anything about renewing their drivers license and medicare card in quebec? I'm due to have them renewed by my birthday next month but I need to get my picture redone and all the SAAQ offices are closed I believe.

From the RAMQ website:
My Health Insurance Card is expired. How do I renew it?

Exceptionally, an expired card will be accepted if you need urgent health care, whether the care is related or not to COVID-19. We still invite you to order your card renewal form or call our client relations centre.

From the SAAQ website:

I received a notice to renew my Health Insurance Card or driver’s licence. Do I have to go to a service outlet to have a new photo taken?

You may have a new photo taken only if your work falls under a priority service or activityThis link will open in a new window as defined by the government of Québec, and if you must operate your vehicle outside of Québec. If that is the case, you must make an appointment before going to a service outlet.
Otherwise, we ask that you NOT go to a service outlet and that you keep your driver’s licence, regardless of its expiry date. Given the current circumstances, police forces will show administrative lenience and avoid penalizing drivers whose licences have recently expired.
With regard to the Health Insurance Card, we invite you to visit the website of the Régie de l’assurance maladie du QuébecThis link will open in a new window.

 

[Starwind]

I have dual US-Canadian citizenship. My Canadian passport is good for another ~5 years, but my US passport expires late this year. For reasons, I have to renew it in person at the US Embassy, which has temporarily (with no restart date) stopped all but emergency American Citizen Services, including passport services.

My NEXUS card also needs renewing this year, but that is a little easier in that when you submit the renewal online the expiry date is automatically extended.

If I can get both renewals done by late fall I will be happy.

I figure worst case I could do a land crossing into the US with a combination of naturalization certificate + birth certificate + divorce decree + Canadian DL + Nexus + expired US passport and that should be enough to prove US citizenship ;-) but I would rather not have to do that as it would just be a mess at crossing.

If it gets closer to the US passport expiry and it hasn't been able to be renewed I will verify with NEXUS if the NEXUS remains valid or not [I don't think it does if one of the underlying passport expires, but am not sure], as NEXUS alone can be used at a Canada/US land crossing.

SW

 

[Sue M]

I don't know about Quebec, but my mom had the same problem in Manitoba. She was told they'll be using her old photo for another year.

I hope BC does the same. My DL expires in May. There’s a phone line to call, guess I’ll have to do that soon and find out.

 

[morrik5]

I know this original post is from April 2020 but here it is October and I see the Passport office is taking appointments for anyone travelling in 30 or less days. With the second COVID wave now ramping up here in Ontario, will those offices close yet again? We have a trip to Fort Wilderness booked for April 2021 and our granddaughter needs her passport renewed, especially since she is flying with her parents. I did hear they will possibly do a walk-in to verify your documentation. Has anyone done this and can I as a retired grandparent take in the paperwork without taking our granddaughter out of school or having her parents take time off work? I don't want to take the chance that the office will yet again shut down and it be a mad scramble if things open up before next spring.

 

[hdrolfe]

You can mail in the application, I believe if you do it in person the parents have to be there? Not positive though

 

[morrik5]

You can mail in the application, I believe if you do it in person the parents have to be there? Not positive though

DD hates the idea of mailing in the application because you have to send the original birth certificate. I guess if you send it Certified or Registered Mail it would be safe

 

[Frozen2014]

DD hates the idea of mailing in the application because you have to send the original birth certificate. I guess if you send it Certified or Registered Mail it would be safe

This is our issue. DH won't mail in the application as won't mail in DS birth certificate. I am OP and even though old post, still same issue. Next cruise is April and DS passport expires in the new year.

 

[hdrolfe]

DD hates the idea of mailing in the application because you have to send the original birth certificate. I guess if you send it Certified or Registered Mail it would be safe

They say to send it in either by courier or registered mail. There are different addresses depending on which you use. People who don't live near an office do it all the time.

If I can convince my son to get his picture taken I need to send his in as it expired last December. I had planned to go in after March break but of course that didn't happen. The picture has to be within 6 months so is no good now. I am honestly not even sure where to get one done now.

 

[AngelDisney]

This is our issue. DH won't mail in the application as won't mail in DS birth certificate. I am OP and even though old post, still same issue. Next cruise is April and DS passport expires in the new year.

It seems that a certified copy of birth registration is accepted. I think you can apply for a certified copy online.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...dian-passports/children/documents-submit.html

 

[samsteele]

Although also off topic, just a word of caution re expiring or expired Ontario licence plate tags. I didn't receive my usual letter reminding me to renew either online or in person before my birthday. I checked online and even though Ontario has temporarily waived the need to renew because of the pandemic, both the OPP and local city police have still been pulling over and ticketing owners for expired tags because they weren't aware of the waiver. I also checked online and we can still easily renew at least 1 year for $120. I did my online renewal and received my tags within 3 days in Canada Post. More peace of mind for me to simply renew and pay online than deal with the hassle of fighting a ticket. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ottawamom]

Thanks for the reminder @samsteele DH will do that for the fleet we have (mine, his, and DS). I'm going to look and see if he can do his drivers license and health card online too. Like you said easier to update online than fight a ticket.

 

[morrik5]

They say to send it in either by courier or registered mail. There are different addresses depending on which you use. People who don't live near an office do it all the time.

If I can convince my son to get his picture taken I need to send his in as it expired last December. I had planned to go in after March break but of course that didn't happen. The picture has to be within 6 months so is no good now. I am honestly not even sure where to get one done now.

CAA does for sure.

 

[morrik5]

Although also off topic, just a word of caution re expiring or expired Ontario licence plate tags. I didn't receive my usual letter reminding me to renew either online or in person before my birthday. I checked online and even though Ontario has temporarily waived the need to renew because of the pandemic, both the OPP and local city police have still been pulling over and ticketing owners for expired tags because they weren't aware of the waiver. I also checked online and we can still easily renew at least 1 year for $120. I did my online renewal and received my tags within 3 days in Canada Post. More peace of mind for me to simply renew and pay online than deal with the hassle of fighting a ticket. Just my 2 cents.

Yes we waited 2 months after renewing the sticker online to get it in the mail. DH went into Service Ontario to ask about it and they got a little reactive. It arrived in the mail a couple of days later ironically.

 

[morrik5]

It seems that a certified copy of birth registration is accepted. I think you can apply for a certified copy online.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...dian-passports/children/documents-submit.html

Back when I worked in a bank we did certified true copies for customers. Do you offhand know if they still do or where else to get it certified other than a notary public?

 

[AngelDisney]

Back when I worked in a bank we did certified true copies for customers. Do you offhand know if they still do or where else to get it certified other than a notary public?

See if any of these options would work for your situation. Scroll down to the section about certified copy of birth registration and there is a list with fees and options.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-or-replace-ontario-birth-certificate#section-5

 

[morrik5]

Luckily she works for a dentist , teaches at a college so knows teachers and our neighbour across the street is a professor at UOIT, the local university so lots of people to certify it as a true copy. Thanks @AngelDisney.

 

[Minniemoo15]

I know this original post is from April 2020 but here it is October and I see the Passport office is taking appointments for anyone travelling in 30 or less days. With the second COVID wave now ramping up here in Ontario, will those offices close yet again? We have a trip to Fort Wilderness booked for April 2021 and our granddaughter needs her passport renewed, especially since she is flying with her parents. I did hear they will possibly do a walk-in to verify your documentation. Has anyone done this and can I as a retired grandparent take in the paperwork without taking our granddaughter out of school or having her parents take time off work? I don't want to take the chance that the office will yet again shut down and it be a mad scramble if things open up before next spring.

I mailed in DDs application in August and it was mailed back to me 4 weeks later. We always mail in our applications because we don’t have a passport office anywhere near so it’s not a big deal for us. I send them with a tracking number and never had any issues.

I would be also worried about a 2nd wave shutting down the picture places. I had a hard time finding somewhere to get DDs pictures done initially.

I highly doubt we are going to travel in March as planned but I am happy to have her new passport on hand either way !

 

[Starwind]

Luckily she works for a dentist , teaches at a college so knows teachers and our neighbour across the street is a professor at UOIT, the local university so lots of people to certify it as a true copy. Thanks @AngelDisney.

FYI

A "certified copy of birth registration" is a specific document issued by the Government of Ontario. It is one of two formats of what is known as a "long form birth certificate".

It is NOT the same as a certified true copy of a document you have in your posession such as one would get from a public notary.

The link AngelDisney provided explains what the document is and how one goes about applying for it. They have both regular and expedited options.

For reference, a google search turned up this translation service website who has sample images showing what the Ontario certified copy of birth registration document looks like: http://adrianawhiteside.com/ontario-long-form-birth-certificate/

SW

See below from that page: