No passports stuck in Canada. Help Please.

[tinkerone]

Just a suggestion... I've scanned my docs and emailed them to family so that, 1, it's on my sent email and 2, my family has it in case of an emergency. I know it's a risk to put that data even on email (is nothing on the net safe?), but I'm thinking I'm more likely to lose my passport (have it stolen) than have my email hacked. I could be naive, though.

I like this idea. I usually keep one copy on me but it worries me in case it gets lost, and to put one in each luggage and bag I carry would worry me more. I really would not like to have my luggage lost and someone have copies of my passport. Doesn't that just open a whole mess right there or am I worried about something that really is a non issue?
But this idea is something I may 'borrow', lol. Thanks.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I like this idea. I usually keep one copy on me but it worries me in case it gets lost, and to put one in each luggage and bag I carry would worry me more. I really would not like to have my luggage lost and someone have copies of my passport. Doesn't that just open a whole mess right there or am I worried about something that really is a non issue?
But this idea is something I may 'borrow', lol. Thanks.

I also have a pic of ours on my phone and email it to myself just in case.

 

[Markonefive]

When I travel, I have scanned images of our passports on an Ironkey secure USB key (password protected, encrypted, and autoerases if the wrong password entered 10 times). But I'm not sure if printed copies are considered a valid replacement for actual passports. I have them to expedite replacing if needed.

 

[steves100]

OP posted elsewhere:

UPDATES: Passports were just delivered to the hotel! They were found on another airline that we didn't even fly with???? Somebody turn them into Delta, most likely because our traveling documents with all our flight numbers were in there.

​

Well thats great news...

Would have liked to know if poster wasn't able to retrieve passport would embassy have helped?

 

[bumbershoot]

Well thats great news...

Would have liked to know if poster wasn't able to retrieve passport would embassy have helped?

The issue is that they were closed until the 5th.

I'm sure they would have helped with arrest etc. but their site clearly stated that even emergency passports are only processed during business hours.

 

[steves100]

well this thread has taught me to bring photo copies of my passport and to pack them somewhere else besides my carryon

I agree, but how would a copy help in this case? Would she have been able to get out of the airport, if so, board using the copies?

 

[hanscarlet]

I agree, but how would a copy help in this case? Would she have been able to get out of the airport, if so, board using the copies?

I don't know would it? Seems like it might help but perhaps not?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I agree, but how would a copy help in this case? Would she have been able to get out of the airport, if so, board using the copies?

I believe the only "help" gained with a copy is the ability to show those parties at the embassy that you do have a current one, and they can get passport # and issue date from it (to speed up the process, maybe). But I doubt that it would work as an ID.

 

[FigmentSpark]

It might also help to prove yours has been lost and so the embassy will shut it down, rather than you have your identity stolen. Or it might help to get a new one in the works, as it proves you had one and they can look up your file.

 

[tinkerone]

So apparently even the airlines don't know what to do. I just read this.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/travel/new...-family-after-passports-are-stolen/ar-BBtR60c

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So apparently even the airlines don't know what to do. I just read this.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/travel/new...-family-after-passports-are-stolen/ar-BBtR60c

Well, I wouldn't expect an airline to give me the correct answer in such a case. It's the immigration people who make the call.

 

[Expatriat]

I have always been under the impression that the primary reason to carry a copy (preferably 2 full-color copies) of one's passport, along with 2 passport photos identical to the one in the passport book, is to greatly expedite replacement in the event of loss or theft. That's reason enough for me!

 

[RafikiTiki21]

Correct, having a copy (or the PPT number and dates, the key data) is two fold:

- enables accurate filing of a lost or stolen passport, a critical step in the case of the document no longer being in your possession

- speeds up the adjudication process of issuing a new or emergency passport. Adjudication is the process DoS goes through to verify citizenship and therefore issue the passport. You likely do not have the documentation originally used to verify citizenship to issue that initial passport, but the PPT number/dates helps them identify you in the system and see those former documents, and go through adjudication easier.

A copy of a Passport cannot be used as a form of identity or citizenship.

 

[soniam]

I believe the only "help" gained with a copy is the ability to show those parties at the embassy that you do have a current one, and they can get passport # and issue date from it (to speed up the process, maybe). But I doubt that it would work as an ID.

I have always been under the impression that the primary reason to carry a copy (preferably 2 full-color copies) of one's passport, along with 2 passport photos identical to the one in the passport book, is to greatly expedite replacement in the event of loss or theft. That's reason enough for me!

You guys are exactly right. A copy will not get you into or out of anywhere. The copy is only good to expedite the replacement of your passport, which would require the embassy or some embassy office to be open.

I feel for the OP, but I keep my passport closer to me when I travel than I do my wallet If the passports are not in my purse, then they are in one of the under-the-shirt passport holders.

 

[steves100]

You guys are exactly right. A copy will not get you into or out of anywhere. The copy is only good to expedite the replacement of your passport, which would require the embassy or some embassy office to be open.

I feel for the OP, but I keep my passport closer to me when I travel than I do my wallet If the passports are not in my purse, then they are in one of the under-the-shirt passport holders.

Thats what I though.

So... Basically the poster was SCREWED if someone didnt return her passports. Id like to know if she would have been able to get out of the airport.

 

[Mrs Green]

Thats what I though.

So... Basically the poster was SCREWED if someone didnt return her passports. Id like to know if she would have been able to get out of the airport.

I thought I read that she received her passports back at the hotel, so she was able to leave the airport. Not sure though...

 

[steves100]

I thought I read that she received her passports back at the hotel, so she was able to leave the airport. Not sure though...

Yeah I guess she couldnt get back to US without it. Which leads to the question if the opposite happened would she be able to get out of a US airport?

 

[SirDuff]

Yeah I guess she couldnt get back to US without it. Which leads to the question if the opposite happened would she be able to get out of a US airport?

The majority of Canadian airports (with flights to the US) have US preclearance, so you don't go through customs/immigration on arrival in the US, so there would be no problem leaving a US airport if you lost your passport on the plane.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

I thought I read that she received her passports back at the hotel, so she was able to leave the airport. Not sure though...

It's likely that she had a connecting flight through another Canadian airport if she was at a hotel when her passports reached her. She would have cleared Canadian customs on her original point of contact - making the second leg of her flight a domestic not an international flight...

 

[bumbershoot]

Carrying copies had been suggested for eons.
I think it's an outdated idea from the ore-digital era. Now, since the embassy person helping will be sitting at a computer they can access your info and picture in the blink of an eye. I think carrying a copy is useless, personally.

I thought I read that she received her passports back at the hotel, so she was able to leave the airport. Not sure though...

That's what the update elsewhere said.

It's likely that she had a connecting flight through another Canadian airport if she was at a hotel when her passports reached her. She would have cleared Canadian customs on her original point of contact - making the second leg of her flight a domestic not an international flight...

If only that had been mentioned. Might have saved at least one of us from laying awake fretting about a stranger having to sleep on cold uncomfortable at-the-gate seats while trying to figure out what to do. And it helps to get better info for her.

Oh well. It worked out. And she didn't need even a bit of any of our advice.