joelsa

Please can anyone tell me how to renew your british passport in Canada. We will hopefully be landing next year and mine and my sons passports run out in '08. We won't be able to apply for Canadian passport as we won't yet be Canadian citizens (am I right?) Has anyone any experience of getting a new passport in Canada, I know there are a few Embassies dotted around just wondered how easy it is.Do they re-stamp the visa into your new passport?

Also we will be holidayingin the US with our visas in our passports and we won't have landed yet, do you think that might cause problems?


Thanks Jo xx

Iginla

http://www.britainincanada.org/Passport/index.htm

dbd33

I've renewed my passport. I walked to the High Commission in Toronto, picked up the form, sent it off to Ottawa and the passport came in the mail. I had the picture taken in the small mall where the HC is so the photographer would be familar with the requirements. No big deal but then I don't have a PR/Landed stamp.

Calgal

You have to apply through the British High Commission in Ottawa: You can print off application forms and relative notes (in PDF) from thier site. It's pretty straight forward, I have done this once in my time here

Click here for the site.

ClareBC

Hi Jo

We applied for citizenship last Fall (you apply 3 years after landing), on Friday we got our acknowledgement and it will be another 12 to 18 months ( ) before we become citizens.

Only 2 years ago it took a friend of mine 4 months -sigh!

Clare

Calgal

You're right - you cannot get a Canadian passport until you have become a citizen. As Clarebc says you can apply for citizenship once you have been resident for at least three years (you can wait longer if you like). Ours only took a few months, but that is going back to '99.

As for vacationing in the states - is this where you will be arriving in Canada from (to live), or just taking holidays from Canada to USA after you have landed in Canada? We have gone on vacation from here on a British passport (I still haven't applied for a CDN passport yet) without problem, but the US have recently tightened security, so it may not be so easy now. This may be better asked on the Canadian Immigration board.

joelsa

As for vacationing in the states - is this where you will be arriving in Canada from (to live), or just taking holidays from Canada to USA after you have landed in Canada? We have gone on vacation from here on a British passport (I still haven't applied for a CDN passport yet) without problem, but the US have recently tightened security, so it may not be so easy now. This may be better asked on the Canadian Immigration board.[/QUOTE]


We are going to the states for a 2 week hol from the UKand then back again before we even land in Canada. We're going in Jan/Feb '06 to Florida and then Landing in Calgary in May/June'06, but we will hopefully be sending off our passports for visas sometime in Nov '05. We were just wondering if the US would think it's funny that we have these PR visas and haven't landed yet. Thanks Jo xx

OzRob

I wouldn't worry about it. I have just returned from a trip to Canada and passed through the states each way. They didn't look through my (Australian) passport. They just asked me why I was entering the US, took both index fingerprints, took a picture, found an empty page, stamped it and I was on my way. They didn't even blink at the Pakistani visa I had in there!!

ABL25

Hi Jo,
I have a similar dilemma to yourself; my passport runs out in Sept '06 although my PR won't be processed until about end on '06. However we are moving out at the end July '05 (study permit). My understanding is that when you land they stamp your passport with the PR visa which runs out with the passport, but you are right that they just stamp your new passport when you get it.

However, the other thing to consider is the new type of passports from later on this year; October?

I spoke to someone in the passport office who said "Renew it now, as we don't know what problems we might have with the new format of passports". The bonuses are:-
you have a new passport so don't need to worry about getting another passport stamped with the visa.
The High Commission will have a copy of the new passport so there is no problem of documentation with your PR application.
You don't need to worry about getting it renewed for 10 years. One less thing to worry about just after landing in a new country

Hope this helps
Alex

MikeUK

But the issue with renewing before with the "old style" (non biometric) passports is that if the US goes ahead with its policy to the visa waiver countries and forces us to change to biometrics you'll then need a visa to enter if you don't have a biometric passport.... all adds to the fun

OzRob

This is already the case. If your passport is of the non-machine readable type you have to get a visa or replace the passport.

Biiiiink

But there's a difference between non-machine readable and non-biometric.

OzRob

Hi Biiiiink,
yes you are right they are different. I hadn't given it much thougth but I did a bit of a search. It's all a bit scarey really. The next step will be the insertion of microchips in the back of our necks. :scared:

BTW, I will be in the Glasgow area to visit some relatives in about three weeks. If l recognise you somewhere I will be shouting out 'show us your bio-metric passport.'

Biiiiink

I don't know much about iris recognition and whatever else they want, but I usually wear coloured opaque lenses (sheer vanity, God didn't give me the blue eyes I wanted but SpecSavers can!) - will that work or will I have to wear glasses to travel? Your microchip sounds appealing by comparison (nothing against specs per se, but Jr likes to break 'em off my face)...

I'll be sure to recognise you out and about by your picture So where are the rellies?

Biiiiink

OzRob

You will be able to recognise me real easy. I will be the one wrapped up all nice and tight in my security blanket driving around in my pram with Australian registration plates. You may also be able to recognise the faint odour of vegemite as I breeze past, but then again being a Canuck you may not recognise the odour of the sweet nectar.

On the serious side I am just collecting a list of my rellies. The ones that I have so far are in Port Glasgow. What are your thoughts of this area? I suspect that it is probably a bit rough.

On your question about wearing contacts I suspect that it will not be a problem. I am sure that if an iris scanner could be fooled by contact lenes the US government would be intelligent enough not to use that system. On second thoughts perhaps I have just created an oxymoron?!!