Passport Time Again!

[drag n' fly]

Their is an article In the Calgary Herald this morning about all those poor souls who...yup you guessed it....waited right until the worst time of the year to get their passport. Lined up out the doors, running to plug money into metres and then driving an hour to only be rejected for a mistake. What I cannot understand is despite tons of warning regarding changes...and daily changes... and more changes and then stalling and then who knows?...you would think people would have taken care of this months ago in May like we did. The temps have plummeted here and it is a high of -16 here today! Imagine running out and plugging money today! I feel sorry for all the old timers and the little kids though who have to wait through it. Apparently is is 1 hour wait just to get past the first checking before you take another number and wait another hour to have it processed.

 

[EEYORERULES]

I understand that you don't need one until January 7th/07. I am flying back Jan 2nd so I will wait until afterwards to get one for my May 2007 trip. I know, I know - I should have one to make things easier for this trip but if I wait till after I come back it will expire in 2012 instead of 2011.

 

[Lizziejane]

Believe it or not, there is a way around the waiting. At least there is here in Winnipeg...

If you complete the application on-line, you get to by-pass the "first check" line, and go straight to the processing line. We were literally in and out in 5 minutes, despite the fact that there were about 100 people in there before us.

I gather it's not something a lot of people know about! Do the application on-line and save yourself a minimum of 2 hours standing in line!!

 

[drag n' fly]

Believe it or not, there is a way around the waiting. At least there is here in Winnipeg...

If you complete the application on-line, you get to by-pass the "first check" line, and go straight to the processing line. We were literally in and out in 5 minutes, despite the fact that there were about 100 people in there before us.

I gather it's not something a lot of people know about! Do the application on-line and save yourself a minimum of 2 hours standing in line!!

How does that work? Do they pre-approve it online?

 

[mlm]

yep - we were one of those people standing in the line up for 1.5 hrs to get our passport this past friday. We are leaving Dec 28th and will be back on the 2nd but decided to get them anyway. Guess we are just procrastinators. Not everyone does everything early!!

Wish I'd known to fill out the form on the internet! What a waste of 1.5 hrs standing outside! Luckily it wasn't too cold.

 

[drag n' fly]

yep - we were one of those people standing in the line up for 1.5 hrs to get our passport this past friday. We are leaving Dec 28th and will be back on the 2nd but decided to get them anyway. Guess we are just procrastinators. Not everyone does everything early!!

Wish I'd known to fill out the form on the internet! What a waste of 1.5 hrs standing outside! Luckily it wasn't too cold.

What I don't understand is the people who complain incessantly about having to wait and then get upset because their application was rejected. It is the busy season and a lot of people are travelling and the rules are changing. There was plenty of notice. In a city of a million people their is going to be a wait. My comment was not meant to point out the fact that everyone out there should have known better. Some people are out there because of passport deadlines...last minute travel etc or people like yourself just being on the safe side and getting them anyways. I apologize if I offended you. My comment was only to point out the complainers who feel they deserve some sort of special treatment. They need to suck it up and wait in line like everyone else! Never heard of the online thing though. I am not sure how that works if you get pre-approved online or what?

 

[pxlbarrel]

I think the flying date for passports is now January 23rd, not the 7th. The Americans forgot to submit something so the date was delayed a couple of weeks.

I think the airlines would be much happier if you were travelling between Dec and January that you have your passport even if you intend to return before the documentation is necessary. And if you think it's bad now....wait until January 22nd when the people living under a rock emerge to find that they really truly need a passport. Or the Americans who realize it at the last minute that their ski trip won't happen because they forgot to get their passport.

My passport doesn't expire until March 2008 so thankfully I don't have to do anything for a while. Phew

 

[mlm]

No worries Drag n fly - I wasn't offended! I know what you mean about those who wait til the last minute and complain about it the whole time. We actually live in Ft McMurray so had no choice to stand in line as it was the only day that we would be in calgary before our trip.... my guarantor was in calgary too which was another reason why we put it off - she had to sign our papers. otherwise, I would have mailed them off months ago!

I too thought it was a good idea to have the passport anyway...would probably help speed things along at the airport, especially during this busy season.

 

[ottawamom]

The long passport lines is exactly why we are driving across the border and flying on a US airline (well that and the price of US tickets). I purposely planned our next trip for 2007 so that we could drive across without a passport. The people in the passport office told me the best time of the year to get passports is in September. Summer travel is done and people aren't yet thinking about winter travel. I just throw that out there for those of you who plan ahead.

 

[Boncho]

When I first heard we were going to start needing passports, I thought, there is no way I'm going to wait until the rush is on - so we already have ours. I've got one even better than the people complaining when they wait until the last minute. When my son and I went to get our passports (in Halifax, an hours drive away) they told me I had to go down to Vital Statistics to get the long form of my sons birth certificate since his father and I don't have the same last name etc. No problem, it's only a couple of blocks away. When we got there, there was a young couple (looked in their late teens, early twenties) and the girl was yelling at the lady working there because they were leaving on their trip the next day and she needed a copy of her birth certificate. The lady asked her where she was born and the girl said ONTARIO! She was screaming at the lady because Nova Scotia couldn't give her an Ontario birth certificate!!!! Can you imagine???
Anyway, that's my story for today.

 

[Reese]

If you complete the application on-line, you get to by-pass the "first check" line, and go straight to the processing line. We were literally in and out in 5 minutes, despite the fact that there were about 100 people in there before us.

I gather it's not something a lot of people know about! Do the application on-line and save yourself a minimum of 2 hours standing in line!!

Do you have a link for where to find it on line?

 

[Lizziejane]

Basically, having completed the application on-line and printing it off, you now have an "open file" and have already cleared the "first check". They know the information is all there and in the right place, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to print it!

When you enter the office, look for the numbers for "on-line applicants" not the regular numbering system, which will place you with everyone else.

The person who served us was ONLY serving people who completed the application on-line, which is how we got to by-pass all those who had cleared the first check, but were still waiting for someone to process their applications. And we were the only ones there who had done it - literally no one in front of us!

Here's the link:

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/can/pol_on-line_form.aspx?lang=e

 

[F4disneyfan]

We got our families a year ago as soon as we heard about the new requirements we didn't hesitate we went and got everyone a new passport. No sence waiting and then complaining because you have no one to blame but yourself in all honesty.

 

[almacdonald]

No worries Drag n fly - I wasn't offended! I know what you mean about those who wait til the last minute and complain about it the whole time. We actually live in Ft McMurray so had no choice to stand in line as it was the only day that we would be in calgary before our trip.... my guarantor was in calgary too which was another reason why we put it off - she had to sign our papers. otherwise, I would have mailed them off months ago!

I too thought it was a good idea to have the passport anyway...would probably help speed things along at the airport, especially during this busy season.

Fort McMurray eh? It could have been a much longer wait if you didn't have time in calgary and had to send your application away. My parents live up there (I did too for 17.5 years ) They send their applications away, got them back, DECLINED!!! after a couple of months because the picture was too dark. So they had to send them away again, and wait a couple months AGAIN and this wasn't even a busy time. Fort McMurrayites really get jacked around, not just with passports but everything!

 

[Anjiebaby]

We all have our passports, but I have to dig them out because my DD3 was so young when she got hers it was valid for 2 years less than ours were so I think hers is expiring in 2007. I tried to see if I could fill out the application online but for children under sixteen you have to download the form and fill it out by hand. Too bad no time savings for me. I hope it expires later in the year or I'll be waiting in line as we are going away in March.

 

[mlm]

Fort McMurray eh? It could have been a much longer wait if you didn't have time in calgary and had to send your application away. My parents live up there (I did too for 17.5 years ) They send their applications away, got them back, DECLINED!!! after a couple of months because the picture was too dark. So they had to send them away again, and wait a couple months AGAIN and this wasn't even a busy time. Fort McMurrayites really get jacked around, not just with passports but everything!

wow - they must have been majorly pi$$ed off! That's why I waited to get them done in person, in calgary. Fort McMurrayites get jacked around - isn't that the truth!

 

[WATERFORDGIRL]

I just applied for my passport in Halifax,NS. I should receive it by Dec. 7th.
I didn't have too long a wait, maybe an hour but indoors. However, the problem is getting one for my brother in Cape Breton. I can't drop off his info if he was to mail it to me, he either has to apply in person or have someone living at the same address drop off the info for him (his wife). To send it to Ottawa (you can't mail it to Halifax), they could not say for sure he would get it back in time for our Florida trip the first week of February. Therefore, the 3 of us are working on a plan. He is getting his photo done this weekend. I think he should send everything to me and I will go the PP office and see if it meets their
specifications (especially the photo) and then have his wife make the journey to
pass in the info (she needs ID with her photo and showing her address) as he can't get any more time off work (saving it for the trip) .... This trip was planned just recently or otherwise he could have got this done in the summer when he was visiting ...... just venting!!

 

[drag n' fly]

I just applied for my passport in Halifax,NS. I should receive it by Dec. 7th.
I didn't have too long a wait, maybe an hour but indoors. However, the problem is getting one for my brother in Cape Breton. I can't drop off his info if he was to mail it to me, he either has to apply in person or have someone living at the same address drop off the info for him (his wife). To send it to Ottawa (you can't mail it to Halifax), they could not say for sure he would get it back in time for our Florida trip the first week of February. Therefore, the 3 of us are working on a plan. He is getting his photo done this weekend. I think he should send everything to me and I will go the PP office and see if it meets their
specifications (especially the photo) and then have his wife make the journey to
pass in the info (she needs ID with her photo and showing her address) as he can't get any more time off work (saving it for the trip) .... This trip was planned just recently or otherwise he could have got this done in the summer when he was visiting ...... just venting!!

Their sure has been lots of new posters on this board lately and I am still a newbie! Yes it is definitely more of a hassle in your case.! Good luck!

 

[pxlbarrel]

This trip was planned just recently or otherwise he could have got this done in the summer when he was visiting ...... just venting!!

Wow....that's gonna take a lot of work. The things we do for da mouse.

This is a good reminder that it's probably best to get the passport stuff done with when you have time and not wait till you need it. My brother renewed his passport months early ... not because he was going somewhere that wanted at least 6 months before expiry but because he had a day off anyway and thought it would be a good time to get it done.

I admire the people who can take a vacation without warning but you need a passport now to do that. Someday I hope to be able to do that (I'm too much of a planner to just take off...the stress of not being able to plan, to the minute, our entire itinerary would give me a stroke) so I'm always going to make sure I have a valid passport.

Besides, it means that every few years I get a chance to improve on the photo (bah....it hasn't happened yet!!!!!)

 

[CdnDisneyNut]

What will the expiry date allowed on a passport for the States. I know that some countries require that your passport will be valid for 3 or 6 months beyond your travel dates.