How Long Did It Take To Get Your Passport? Poll

[deb123453]

i went down to the passport office yesterday,waited 4.5 hours.was told to expect it mar.8 at the latest.i knew the wait would be awhile and i would rather have them go over it well i am there to make sure i did everything correctly.i don't go till may so i have lots of time just in case.plus i am flying out of detroit so there was a chance i didn't need it. just when we went last year the security gaurds at the airport tried telling my ont photo card (age of majority) wasn't real goverment i.d. then what is it?

 

[Albertan mom]

AHhhh! Totally stressed.

I sent in our Alberta Health Care cards as ID. It did say on the forms that that is a valid form of ID. Then I was talking to friends yesterday and they said no, that isn't good enough because it doesn't have a signature on it.
So I was worried.
Then I went onto the Passport Canada website, and it does say that AHC card is not valid!! AHHHHH!!!

So are my applications all going to be denied?
Will they send them back?

That could take 3 monthes for them to even look at them. Then they send them back, and then I send it back and it could take 3 more monthes for them to look at them again!! I could be looking at 6 more monthes??!!

Anyone know?

(encouraging words would be great right now! )

 

[TimNDansMom]

Can someone please explain what the difference is between filling out a paper passport application form that you can pick up in the post office and filling out the passport application online and then going to the passport office in person? When you do it online, do you print off some kind of receipt or copy of the application that you take with you? Does it work out faster doing it online?

Dh's current passport expires in May. I hope by then, things are a little more normal at the passport office as far as the wait. Both my boys passports need to be renewed as well, but they don't travel with us any more, so I'm waiting on those.

Just out of curiosity, what time are people starting to line-up at the Kitchener or London offices?

 

[laura001]

I applied for two passports on January 31st in the St. Catharines office. I arrived at about 8:30 am and got a number when the office opened, (I think number 51 or something like that), I was finished at about 10:45 am. They gave me a date of February 13th for it to be mailed out to me and that I should have it by the end of February.

Well...........one of them arrived TODAY. So..........that is from January 31 to February 12th, not bad!!! I will let everyone know when the second one comes.

I am editing to say that I had read awhile ago that a CAA agent had advised their client that it was too late to apple for a passport for March break, IMHO I bet there is still time to do that! Just another reason to go with a "real" Disney specialist...lol!

 

[A&CsMom]

A person I work with is also a student at Niagara College over the border, and she just realized her passport is expiring in April. She is not allowed to let it expire while she is going to Niagara, so she was in a bit of a panic. I told her that I had heard if you fill out the form online, there is a separate line at the passport office and it is much faster. So she filled out the online form, printed it off, brought in all the required supporting documentation, and when she went yesterday (Hamilton), a guy who worked there came up to her to give her a number, it would have been a 4 hour wait, then she told him she had filled out the online form, so he gave her a different number, and her number was "called" in about a minute and a half, she went up to the window, did her thing, and was out, being told she would receive her passport by March 4. She said she was in and out in about 6 minutes. Just thought I'd share in case this helps anyone.

 

[DanaLR]

YEAH!! We received our passports in the mail on Friday Feb 17th

Still thinking and hoping for those still waiting.

This is a sore spot with me but once I have the passports in hand I will forget about it.

We waited in line for almost 8 hours in the pouring rain at the Victoria Passport Office one day and was at the door of the office building (not inside) only to be told that we weren't getting in. We had our daughter with us and had her out of school for the day . Thought she had to be there in person to apply. Heard people in the line talking about children not needing to be there and took my chances and went a few days later without her this time.
We tried again on January 26. Got up at 3am (we live over an hour away) and was at the Victoria Passport Office at 4:45am. There were about 40 people lined up in the dark already!
Anyways, we got them done. We were out of the building by 10:30am. It was a long day and quite cold (but not raining)!
We could pay $10 per passport to pick them up at the Passport Office in Victoria on March 2nd or have them registered mailed to us. I am having it mailed because it has cost so much in gas/time off work/parking fees.

This trip to WDW was a surprise trip for my daughter from Grandma. She is taking my daughter and well me of course too. She told me about the trip the week before we lined up at the passport office. So, no, I didn't wait until the last minute. Sometimes surprises and these once in a lifetime things just happen. It just happened to be at a bad time.

We are leaving for Vancouver to fly out on the 17th of March.

Crossing fingers/toes that they come in time.

 

[Pink Disney]

Applied Jan. 25th at the Surrey, BC office. Took 4 hours start to finish. Received passport in mail Feb. 13th.

 

[minnie56]

We applied for a renewal for my DD Jan 16. I express mailed it to Ottawa. They rec'd the next day. Still not here...DD went to Cancun yesterday, thank goodness we had British Passports to fall back on and use or she would not have been able to go!

I just think it's all nonsense!

 

[excitedfamily]

Minnie56,
I don't think you are going to receive them anytime soon!
Our arrived at Passport Canada December 11th and I received them on Friday, as in February 16th. That is a total of 2 months and 5 days, or 48 business days! I hope I am wrong, because someone else who sent their application in at the same week received theirs a couple of weeks ago. Huge difference so I'm not sure what they do exactly.
Visa was charged January 31st, passport issued February 7th, received February 16th. Mailing them in sucks big time.

We are all going to get British passports too (I was born in England) so that we are never held hostage like this again. I'm also going to renew earlier than 5 years to try to avoid the big rush 5 years from now. I just hope everyone else doesn't do that too!!!!!

 

[pampam]

1-800-567-6868. Expect to get a lot of busy signals. And, even when you do get through, they only have 20 spots in the queue and that is often full so they end up hanging up on you and asking you to call back.

MJF

If you can't get through, you might try what i did. I called at 2:30 Ottawa time. I got in the system, after about 3 rings, but the back log bumped us out, so I called again, but didn't push any buttons. The answering system assumed we had an old dial telephone, and put us on hold, we waited about 30 minutes, and then were able to speak to someone about the status of our applications. It wasn't great news, but an update non the less. We applied through our MP's office on Jan. 16th. It will be at least another 3 weeks.

 

[laura001]

I reported a week ago or so that my DH received his passport and am now reporting that my DD received hers yesterday. We applied on January 31st at the St. Catharines office, DD received hers yesterday, February 19th! Pretty good I would say!

 

[laura001]

Minnie56,
I don't think you are going to receive them anytime soon!
Our arrived at Passport Canada December 11th and I received them on Friday, as in February 16th. That is a total of 2 months and 5 days, or 48 business days! I hope I am wrong, because someone else who sent their application in at the same week received theirs a couple of weeks ago. Huge difference so I'm not sure what they do exactly.
Visa was charged January 31st, passport issued February 7th, received February 16th. Mailing them in sucks big time.

We are all going to get British passports too (I was born in England) so that we are never held hostage like this again. I'm also going to renew earlier than 5 years to try to avoid the big rush 5 years from now. I just hope everyone else doesn't do that too!!!!!

I think the trick is to go ahead and submit directly at a passport office. It seems that that is the only way people are getting them back within a reasonable amount of time.

 

[LdnCpl]

I phoned today to check the status of our passports(we Xpress post'd them in). As of today they are working on the one's received Jan 4th. Ours went by courier on the 17th of Jan

 

[Dazer22]

I phoned today to check the status of our passports(we Xpress post'd them in). As of today they are working on the one's received Jan 4th. Ours went by courier on the 17th of Jan

Any idea how many weeks it takes once they begin processing them?

 

[tone.def]

Did anyone catch Rick Mercer last night - in his rant he made fun of the people complaining about having to wait for passports even though we all knew 2 years ago!

 

[Lizzzys]

Did anyone catch Rick Mercer last night - in his rant he made fun of the people complaining about having to wait for passports even though we all knew 2 years ago!

You know what I can't wait for?? The groans and complaints of those who have passports now and will eventually need to renew them and wait in line for theirs. I'm so sick and tired of hearing the "holier than thou", smug attitude of some people who think it is their job to say "You were warned!!" and gloat repeatedly.

I will say it once more, not everybody had the opportunity/need to get passports before now. And there happen to be situations in life that prevent one from being able to act sooner sometimes (I don't want to go into this one too much, but it involves a messy divorce)

This problem is the fault of our government. Pure and simple. It is about disorganization (why aren't they opening passport applications when they are received and sorting them in travel date priority?? Why are they processing applications of those who are travelling next fall before those (like me) who need them in two weeks?), unfulfilled promises (telling me in early Jan. to mail ours in if we didn't need to travel in the next 20 business days, only to find that ours won't even be opened until sometime this week (end of Feb) if I'm lucky), and lack of foresight. Instead of waiting until mid-Feb to hire 200 extra people, why didn't they do that in November of last year when they were beginning to fall behind?

Rant over,
Thanks,
Liz.

 

[tone.def]

You know what I can't wait for?? The groans and complaints of those who have passports now and will eventually need to renew them and wait in line for theirs. I'm so sick and tired of hearing the "holier than thou", smug attitude of some people who think it is their job to say "You were warned!!" and gloat repeatedly.

Yep, 2010 - I can't wait.

I will say it once more, not everybody had the opportunity/need to get passports before now. And there happen to be situations in life that prevent one from being able to act sooner sometimes (I don't want to go into this one too much, but it involves a messy divorce)

I am sorry about your circumstance.

This problem is the fault of our government. Pure and simple. It is about disorganization (why aren't they opening passport applications when they are received and sorting them in travel date priority?? Why are they processing applications of those who are travelling next fall before those (like me) who need them in two weeks?), unfulfilled promises (telling me in early Jan. to mail ours in if we didn't need to travel in the next 20 business days, only to find that ours won't even be opened until sometime this week (end of Feb) if I'm lucky), and lack of foresight. Instead of waiting until mid-Feb to hire 200 extra people, why didn't they do that in November of last year when they were beginning to fall behind?

So, like the people who wait until 5 p.m. Christmas Eve to go shopping, it's the fault of the stores?

 

[Lizzzys]

So, like the people who wait until 5 p.m. Christmas Eve to go shopping, it's the fault of the stores?

Different thing entirely. The stores don't advertise that they'll stay open until 5:00pm on Christmas Eve, and then shut their doors unexpectedly at 1:00 pm and put up a sign saying "too bad, you should have come sooner!". That is the proper analogy here.

That is what has happened here. I was told BY PASSPORT CANADA in early January that I *should* mail the applications in versus standing in line because my date of travel was more than 20 business days away. I had at least double that at the time and thought we were more than safe. I thought I was following procedure.

Passport Canada has further bungled the application backlog with the panic they have caused by not coming forward publically with clear and accurate information and instructions on which method (office or mail-in) people should follow depending on their travel dates. Now everyone (whether travelling soon or not) is visiting the office and their applications are being given precedence over those who need them sooner. Rumours have caused more panic due to Passport Canada's lack of being forthright.

Liz

 

[mommy2claire]

Hi. I'm a new member in this board, but I thought I'd post my passport story. sorry this is a long post!
------

Early in January, I booked our vacation package to Disneyland, with our flights from Vancouver to LA. Our departure date is March 3; return date March 7.

Our DD needed a new passport - she's 2 1/2 years old right now. Last year, we tried several times to get a passport photo done, but she wouldn't cooperate so after many unsuccessful attempts with getting her to sit still and not smiling, we decided to hold off until she was old enough to cooperate. My DH's passport expires March 11, 2007

Before finalizing our trip, I checked the Passport Canada website and at that time (around January 10) there was a message that the lineups at the passport offices were really long and anyone who does not have travel plans within 20 days were advised to mail in their passport application.

So we thought, let's mail the apps instead of lining up, since there was enough time (or so we thought!). If you mail your app, it will be processed in 20 business days. So we sent the apps by registered mail and according to Canada Post tracking, the receiving office in Hull received the apps on Jan 1. We expected the apps in our hands by Feb. 14.

On February 9, we heard in the local news that Passport Canada is having this enormous backlog, and that the waiting period if you mailed your application can take up to 60 days. On their website, there is a new announcement that the delay on passports can take up to 25 business days on top of their usual processing time. So at that point, we knew we were screwed. On that same day, my DH called the Passport Canada 1-800 number, after an hour of trying and was told that they were still processing apps from December 21st! So they advised that the best course of action is to have the passport apps returned at our expense and then take our apps and line up at the passport office. So DH was told to obtain a Fedex acct number, then called the 1-800 number back, gave the original tracking numbers and was told that it would take 5 to 15 days to have the frickin' apps back to us! Apparently, our apps are sitting in a big warehouse in Ottawa full of passport apps. ARGH!!!!!

We didn't want to be at the mercy of Passport Canada, so last week, we decided to re-do our DD's application. I got new photos done, got our lawyer to be a guarantor and did the paperwork again. Good thing we had her long-form birth certificate (we mailed her short form bc) still with us. So last Friday, I woke up bright and early and headed to the Passport office in downtown Vancouver at 6:30 am. The lineup was insane but managed to get served at 11:00 am. DD's passport will be in my hands on Feb 27. Woohoo!!! I brought along our plane tickets to prove that we were flying on the 3rd, as apparently, they will not do rush service unless you have supporting travel documents.

Now as for DH, his situation is more critical. Right now, we're at the mercy of Passport Canada since he has absolutely no ID to prove his citizenship. His original passport and his citizenship card are in his original application which is somewhere in a warehouse in Ottawa. He wasn't born in Canada so he can't obtain a replacement birth certificate. Anywhow, while I was at the Passport Office, DH called the 1-800 again (this would have been his 5th time calling) and they were going to make a priority since we are running out of time. The Ottawa office will try and locate his application and forward the documents to the Vancouver office. And he was given instructions to go to the Vancouver Passport office on Mar 1 (2 days before we fly). When I inquired at the passport office on his application, the passport officer received an email from ottawa informing them about DH's application. If they receive his app before the 1st, they will call him to go to the office and issue a regular passport. If he doesn't get a call, he will still have to go on the 1st and be issued a temporary passport. It's good thing that the Vancouver office has a record of all the passports he has had in the past including his current one, so hopefully that should expedite the process.

Whew! I don't know whether to thank Passport Canada or hurl swear words at them. lol! I've learned some big important lessons through this passport ordeal. As much as possible, try not to mail your passport; by doing that, you basically have to surrender all your important ID and wait for months before you get your passport. Had I known that there was a huge processing backlog with mailed applications back in January, we would have just lined up at the passport office in the first place! Grr!!

Sorry for the long post!

 

[mommy2claire]

I also wanted to mention that I totally agree with Liz's sentiments. We didn't wait at the last minute to get our passports.

Back in January, we were following the instructions that were posted in the Passport Canada website at that time, which was to mail in our applications if we weren't traveling within 20 business days. Had the information about the backlog on the mailed applications been posted back in January, my DH & would have lined up back then and not have such a mad scramble we are having now.