Pasports for 16 year olds -- what a chore!

[bdoyledimou]

We are traveling in AUgust so I have a lot of time, but wow what a chore it is to get a passport for a teen!!

I have a 16 year old with no passport who has to apply as an adult under the new guidelines.

He has to show provide two pieces of ID with his photo and signature and date of birth plus his Birth certificate. Easy right? Nope -- his health card doesn't have a photo and doesn't expire until Sept 2015.

They won't accept his student ID because it doesn't have his birth date or signature on it.

They suggested an Ontario Photo Card -- but that requires the same proof of identity!! how are kids supposed to get ID if they can't get id!!?!?!?!?!?!?

With our daughter -- she just needs the long form BC (as she is under 16) -- but they wont accept that for son as he is over 16 -- - any suggestions no how to break out of this catch 22?

 

[GrtWtNorth]

According to this "Proof of Identity" web page, only one piece of photo ID with signature is required.

Does he have a drivers license / learners permit? How difficult would it be to obtain one? If he's willing to write and pass the test, you might be able to kill two birds with one stone.

 

[bdoyledimou]

He's not ready for drivers test - he has a learning disability and test anxiety - he has verbally answered every question correctly then feed the written test due to his interpretation of the question

But yeah that was my first thought too.

 

[Shmaxlia1234]

Get a photo id health card. You can get them when the child turns 15. I had to do it for my son who needed id for something. Easy to do and much less a headache than anything else. Hope that helps.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

[deleted]

 

[It'sWDW4me]

We are traveling in AUgust so I have a lot of time, but wow what a chore it is to get a passport for a teen!!

I have a 16 year old with no passport who has to apply as an adult under the new guidelines.

He has to show provide two pieces of ID with his photo and signature and date of birth plus his Birth certificate. Easy right? Nope -- his health card doesn't have a photo and doesn't expire until Sept 2015.

They won't accept his student ID because it doesn't have his birth date or signature on it.

They suggested an Ontario Photo Card -- but that requires the same proof of identity!! how are kids supposed to get ID if they can't get id!!?!?!?!?!?!?

With our daughter -- she just needs the long form BC (as she is under 16) -- but they wont accept that for son as he is over 16 -- - any suggestions no how to break out of this catch 22?

Are you sure that the Photo Card requires the exact same proof? I was able to get DS a state photo ID card using his birth certificate, Social Security Card, and his school ID (name and pic only, no signature). Maybe you can indeed get a photo ID card with the info/proof that you do have and then turn it around and use the photo ID card for the passport?

Good luck to you with all the red tape! :

 

[bdoyledimou]

he is on Spring (yeh right) break starting tomorrow -- so we are going to head on over to Service Ontario with everything we have to see if we can update it.
thanks for the guidance!

 

[Shmaxlia1234]

Good luck and yeah for Spring Break!!! Too bad it doesn't feel like Spring!

Enjoy the rest of your day.

 

[bdoyledimou]

Did i say Chore? i meant Herculean task ----

what a mess that was yesterday -- but bottom line is -- when going to get a 16 year old ID in Ontario , bring everything -- and i mean everything --

we got sent back three times for "more info" including a letter addressed to him at his address, a report card, and a copy of a medical report -- plus his expired passport, plus his old health card, his birth certificate (long form and short form), plus his student ID -- and a "sworn statement" -- and we were not the only ones -- when we commented o how absurd it was for a 16 year old to be expected to have all this -- others in line pointed out that they were in the same predicament.

oddly enough -- my wife was able to get hers renewed -- using her Portuguese passport and her landed immigrant card -- -- well now we just have to wait a few weeks for his photo health card.. and we get to do the same for passports!

 

[Skjhjb]

Did i say Chore? i meant Herculean task ---- what a mess that was yesterday -- but bottom line is -- when going to get a 16 year old ID in Ontario , bring everything -- and i mean everything -- we got sent back three times for "more info" including a letter addressed to him at his address, a report card, and a copy of a medical report -- plus his expired passport, plus his old health card, his birth certificate (long form and short form), plus his student ID -- and a "sworn statement" -- and we were not the only ones -- when we commented o how absurd it was for a 16 year old to be expected to have all this -- others in line pointed out that they were in the same predicament. oddly enough -- my wife was able to get hers renewed -- using her Portuguese passport and her landed immigrant card -- -- well now we just have to wait a few weeks for his photo health card.. and we get to do the same for passports!

That is insane!

We got all 3 of our kids passports for our trip in 2012. The only pain in the butt step was having to get their official birth certificates first (we never got the when they were born). The younger two were no big deal, oldest was 16. But it wasn't a hassle. Took all the id to the passport office, paid the fees and voila! Three weeks later they came in the mail. I don't recall anything needed for id other than birth certificate, maybe her photo health card? Which was free to get nod we already had because she was 16.

Sorry it has been such a hassle for you!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Did i say Chore? i meant Herculean task ----

what a mess that was yesterday -- but bottom line is -- when going to get a 16 year old ID in Ontario , bring everything -- and i mean everything --

we got sent back three times for "more info" including a letter addressed to him at his address, a report card, and a copy of a medical report -- plus his expired passport, plus his old health card, his birth certificate (long form and short form), plus his student ID -- and a "sworn statement" -- and we were not the only ones -- when we commented o how absurd it was for a 16 year old to be expected to have all this -- others in line pointed out that they were in the same predicament.

oddly enough -- my wife was able to get hers renewed -- using her Portuguese passport and her landed immigrant card -- -- well now we just have to wait a few weeks for his photo health card.. and we get to do the same for passports!

I'm so glad you left plenty of time for getting your passports before your trip!! Holy moly. Now just keep everything together and take the whole shebang along with the health card once you receive it.

Good luck. All this mess will be worth it once you're on vacation.

 

[bdoyledimou]

That is insane!

We got all 3 of our kids passports for our trip in 2012. The only pain in the butt step was having to get their official birth certificates first (we never got the when they were born). The younger two were no big deal, oldest was 16. But it wasn't a hassle. Took all the id to the passport office, paid the fees and voila! Three weeks later they came in the mail. I don't recall anything needed for id other than birth certificate, maybe her photo health card? Which was free to get nod we already had because she was 16.

Sorry it has been such a hassle for you!

This was FOR his photo health card!!

Once i have that, then i will have the required id for his passport..

We still can't believe how many hoops we had to jump through -- and why they would accept his report card, but not his notice of renewal for his health card.

 

[Gigi22]

The logic defies me. But, that said, if your son hasn't got his driver's license, after he gets a passport, may I suggest you look into getting him an Ontario Photo Card? It is a credit card sized piece of government i.d. with a photo and an address. Once your son gets his driver's license, he will have to surrender his photo card (you can't hold both), but until he does, it's very handy to have.

 

[bdoyledimou]

The logic defies me. But, that said, if your son hasn't got his driver's license, after he gets a passport, may I suggest you look into getting him an Ontario Photo Card? It is a credit card sized piece of government i.d. with a photo and an address. Once your son gets his driver's license, he will have to surrender his photo card (you can't hold both), but until he does, it's very handy to have.

That will be our next task -- mind you i wish he would get over his anxiety and at least get his L1

 

[Skjhjb]

This was FOR his photo health card!! Once i have that, then i will have the required id for his passport.. We still can't believe how many hoops we had to jump through -- and why they would accept his report card, but not his notice of renewal for his health card.

SO sorry...I totally misread!

We just did the health card thing for our middle child....of course we had the passport already for her, so the report card and the birth certificate sealed the deal.

What a pain in the *** for a simple photo id!

 

[Gigi22]

Looking at the positive side of all the paperwork, once you have an adult passport, renewing it is a comparative walk in the park. The hardest part is getting the photo. No one, but no one, who has a valid passport should ever let it lapse.

 

[bdoyledimou]

his old passport expired in July of last year -- and it was from when he was 10 -- he looks nothing like his old picture -- a lot of changes lot between 10 and 16

 

[bdoyledimou]

Looking at the positive side of all the paperwork, once you have an adult passport, renewing it is a comparative walk in the park. The hardest part is getting the photo. No one, but no one, who has a valid passport should ever let it lapse.

WE will be getting him a 10 year passport, and then I am marching them both through the NEXUS process just to make sure they are familure with it -- even though we wont ever use it as a family as mom is not a citizen -- it's worth while for them to have it)

We need passports cause we go to Europe a lot as well --

 

[CaperCris]

I am so glad I read your post earlier today. I had ordered my daughters birth cert literally an hour earlier and ordered the short form. Thanks to your post I was able to phone vital stats and order the long form. That never even crossed my mind. Sorry you are having such a hard time

 

[bdoyledimou]

hey that's what these forums are for -- support and help!

I am glad there was some positive from my trials