wait time for passport?

[mickilee]

How long does it take , by mail?

We are travelling a month from today.
Would it be quicker to drive to the Whitby office from Parry Sound?

thanks

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We sent ours in by Expresspost and received them back in approximately 3 weeks.

If you are travelling in 30 days, I would definitely go the Passport Office rather than send them by mail. If there is any issue with your documentation or photos, they will return everything to you and you must resubmit your application. That could easily put your past a month.

 

[My 2 princesses]

I was just now on their site reading about this as I have to renew ours as well. 10 days if you go to the passport office, 20 days if you use Service Canada or Canada Post outlet.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Ugh! That's a long drive but considering you're going in a month it might be the safest way to do it.

Hope you find a beautiful, sunny day to enjoy your drive!

 

[pigletto]

We were told ten days when we went to the office (chose the option where they would be mailed to us but dropped off at the office.) We dropped them off on a Thursday. I got a call Friday just before they closed that they needed me to call. I called them back Monday and answered a few questions and everything was fine. Imagine my surprise when they showed up Wednesday morning
Less than a week and they weren't even processed until I called Monday. I was impressed!

 

[CerysG]

I renewed mine in the late fall and it only took a week to 10 days so really quick. I went to the passport office so I expect that helps a lot. I was actually in and out of the place in less then 1/2 hour which is quite something for a government office.

 

[sherilaine]

If you are travelling within a month I think you would be taking serious chances submitting it through the mail - I would not even consider doing that - I think you should drive and take them in person - we had three photos out of four rejected once!

Good luck.

 

[Malakaiii]

I agree about doing it in person. Make sure you let them know your travel date as well... they usually try to rush them through. I think you can pay extra to have the super-speedy service done!

 

[Ima Disnewby]

definitely GO to the Whitby office if you can!! it's well worth the trip & peace of mind

we live in North York and have gone to Whitby for ours (dh & myself) which we had in hand delivered to us within 4 days of being at the office. our kids took a few days longer, both were during the busy summer season as well

 

[mamaCta]

It may be worth it to pay extra for a guaranteed time frame.

 

[lizzyb]

We always do it in person and get it back within 1 week.

 

[C&B Young]

We just got ours back via mail-in renewal, took about 3 weeks from mailing them in to receiving them back.

 

[redandrea]

It may be worth it to pay extra for a guaranteed time frame.

We went in on Tuesday last week, spent about 30 min going over 2 adult renewals and 3 kid new forms, and four arrived yesterday (waiting on the baby's).

I've been told that unless you can prove you are traveling in the delineated short time spans, they will not let you get a rush job.

 

[Canooknic]

I received my son's passports back in 24 days - that was in December

 

[mamaCta]

I think I took mine to my MP's office (we don't have a passport office) to be sent in about 2 weeks ago. I found the credit card charge today. I'm expecting they will be in our mail in a week to 10 days.

 

[mickilee]

thank you everyone. We were trying to avoid the drive. Our travel dates aren't in stone. Give a week or 2.

 

[wdwmom3]

I would advise going in person. It could take a couple months if there are any issues with paperwork or pictures if you do it by mail. They can be super picky about pictures. My dbf had to get his pictures redone 2 times because of a tiny (we didn't notice it) glare. The third time I told him to powder his face first lol. By going in person we knew right away. If we had mailed it in we would have waited a couple weeks to find out and then had to start the process again.

If you are set on going in the next month I would drive it in. If you don't mind the possibility of delaying your trip by a month or 2 if needed then mail it.

 

[mamaCta]

We got our passports today. I had taken them to the MP's office for mailing at the beginning of March, so less than 3 weeks start to finish.

 

[mickilee]

Just an update. It was 3 weeks to the day. She received it in the mail. That"s with mailing it in.

 

[coastgirl]

Data point for Halifax for anyone interested...I went in on Wednesday March 20, got there at noon. (Don't ask--it was supposed to be earlier in the day. ) Of course everyone and their dog was there on their lunch break. The commissionaire told me it looks like a half-hour wait, and it was 40 minutes.

Once I got to an agent, it was another 20 minutes to review the paperwork for four renewals. We all had passports that had expired less than a year ago. I liked that I didn't have to leave the kids' birth certificates or even the old passports, I walked out with everything I came with, except the completed forms and photos. Note, my kids got their last passports in 2007, and we didn't have to submit the long form birth certificate, just the little wallet-sized one.

They arrived by registered mail (had to go sign for it and show id) around April 4/5. (Dh's came separate by a day, which freaked him out a little, but the same thing happened last time, except it was mine that took a little longer.) They told me it would be around April 10, so they were a little early. 16 days, pretty good. There were people in the office picking them up if they were on a tighter timeline.

Gotta tell you, there were some clueless people there. There was a lady with applications for her family ahead of me at the window for 30 minutes...her applications were a mess. They didn't know they needed references! Her husband hadn't even signed his. On the other hand, if she had mailed it in, God knows how many delays and re-subs she would have had.