It should all be this easy!!!

[giraffemd 0]

So my passport was expiring in sept, so when I was in Canada, I got my pics, had my guarantor (Daughter-in-law) sign for me (I was changing to my married name, so could not file with the short form). I sent it in the form on June 24, and received my new passport today in the mail....hmmm....wish it was all that fast and simple.

Now will start naturalization....wish me luck

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Yeah, the Canadian passport is processed pretty quickly.:-) They even deliver them by courier if you are in the US.

[Flames9_RN 358]

yep, I was surprised how quick/painless it was even from the USA! I sent mine from VA, just regular old snail mail, and only took a few weeks!

[warlord 72]

yep, I was surprised how quick/painless it was even from the USA! I sent mine from VA, just regular old snail mail, and only took a few weeks!

Damn, it used to be such a pain in the #### to get the passport from inside the US. It was hard to meet the guarntor thing here and getting people in Canada that remembered me to sign was just as hard. Last time my dad had to ask someone at his church if they could do it since he was a freaking vet. The guy knew me when I was a little kid and that was it. Without my parents I would never have gotten a new passport.

Good to know it's made easier nowdays, not sure how long is left on mine, but doubt I'll bother to renew it...

[Flames9_RN 358]

yep, I was surprised how quick/painless it was even from the USA! I sent mine from VA, just regular old snail mail, and only took a few weeks!

Damn, it used to be such a pain in the #### to get the passport from inside the US. It was hard to meet the guarntor thing here and getting people in Canada that remembered me to sign was just as hard. Last time my dad had to ask someone at his church if they could do it since he was a freaking vet. The guy knew me when I was a little kid and that was it. Without my parents I would never have gotten a new passport.

Good to know it's made easier nowdays, not sure how long is left on mine, but doubt I'll bother to renew it...

its only easy if ur current passport is NOT expired, totally different ballgame if it is!! I belive eventually they are coming out with a 10 yr passport!

[antda 13]

Hi Giraffemd (and Everyone),

Congratulations on getting your Canadian passport right away! Yes, it usually takes about 2 weeks or so to receive such in the mail, and is relatively quick and easy to apply for such (which I did recently in February in-person and got it in the mail 2 weeks later)

Lol...the only things I would complain about with the Canadian passport is:

-What's the deal with the guarrantor and two references? Lol..I had such a hard time finding people that meets those qualifications and would actually agree to such! And all for what, a married name change? Isn't a marriage certificate good enough to renew a passport to a married name? So why can't those who change their names use the simplified form to renew their Canadian passport instead of having to deal with this extra guarrantor and references stuff? On the bright side, the next time you renew your passport, in 5 years, you can use the short form instead...

-What's the deal with a 5yr passport instead of a 10yr one? Most countries issue 10 year passports (such as the USA) versus Canada that issues 5 year passports for the same amount of money ($100). Seems as though we're getting ripped off here!

-What's the deal with Canadians not having the option of getting a passport card instead of a passport book? It would be so much more convenient and less costly to have that option too, especially if a person does frequent land border crossing and would likely carry that in their wallet a lot of the time instead of having to worry about forgetting it at home....

Oh well, I can't complain too much though. At least I have a valid (Canadian) passport now, which is needed for travel purposes, especially with the stricter border crossing rules now.

Lol..now, if only I can get my USC husband to get a US passport...lol......

Good luck with your naturalization application too. (what a co-incidence, at that stage too)

By the way, you can check out the following helpful VJ boards and topics when you are filing for such:

-US Citizenship General Discussion:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=114

-Canadians for US Naturalization/Citizenship:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=206763

Ant

So my passport was expiring in sept, so when I was in Canada, I got my pics, had my guarantor (Daughter-in-law) sign for me (I was changing to my married name, so could not file with the short form). I sent it in the form on June 24, and received my new passport today in the mail....hmmm....wish it was all that fast and simple.

Now will start naturalization....wish me luck

Edited July 10, 2009 by AntandD