Canada apparently easing the guarantor requirements

[KarenCee 3]

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/cdn/section2.aspx?lan...p;region=Canada

I'm sure we have all heard the horror stories about renewing your Canadian Passport, well it is my pleasure to pass along some good news to all! Previously when you renewed your passport you needed to secure a guarantor that you had known for a few years that was in a certain list of professions or held certain office. Passport Canada has recently eased these requirements and it is now easier to find yourself a quarantor...see the following requirements for a quarantor... Guarantor

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Current profile: Canadians living in Canada Canadians living in the United States Canadians living abroad

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Duties of a guarantor

Your guarantor must perform the following tasks free of charge:

1. Certify the information on the application form by completing and signing the "Declaration of Guarantor" section.

2. Write, "I certify this to be a true likeness of (either your name or your child's name)" on the back of one of the passport photos and sign.

3. If applicable, sign and date a copy of the documents to support your identity.

Eligible guarantors

Your guarantor must:

1. Hold a five-year Canadian passport that is valid* or has been expired for no more than one year, on the day you submit your application;

2. Have known you personally for at least two (2) years.

In the case of a child, have known you (parent or legal guardian) personally for at least two (2) years and have knowledge of the child;

3. Be a Canadian citizen 18 years of age or older;

4. Have been 16 years of age or older when he or she applied for his or her own passport.

In the case of a child, in cases where provincial family services have placed a child for adoption with a family, until the adoption is final (probationary adoption), the Provincial Director of Family Services, the Director of the Family Services Agency or the Director of the Incorporated Institution (in Québec) may also sign as guarantor.

Family members and those residing at the same address as yourself may be your guarantor provided he or she meets the specified requirements. Please note however that if you are the parent or legal guardian applying for a passport for your child, you cannot act as guarantor.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Not sure how that makes things easier if ur residing in the USA. The guarantor still has to have a Cdn passport and cdn citizen

[KarenCee 3]

Not sure how that makes things easier if ur residing in the USA. The guarantor still has to have a Cdn passport and cdn citizen

Apparently the Atlanta Canadian Group thinks it's easier, not sure whether it is or not. I was just passing along the information.

[Marilyn. 340]

Canadians living in the United States or Bermuda who wish to download the old form, the previous guarantor policy applies.

* Adults (16 years of age or over): PPTC 140

* Children (under 16 years of age): PPTC 142

http://www.pptc.gc.ca/cdn/form.aspx?lang=eng&region=USA

[Marilyn. 340]

Original proof of Canadian citizenship (no copies or

notarized copies).

http://www.pptc.gc.ca/form/pdfs/pptc140.pdf

do they really want you to send in your orignal Birth certificate?? I only have one copy.... I wouldn't want to send it in in case I don't get it back...

[KarenCee 3]

I apologise if I have posted something that is incorrect or unhelpful. I was only trying to help.

[Marilyn. 340]

I apologise if I have posted something that is incorrect or unhelpful. I was only trying to help.

its ok, karen it is helpful.... the rules are much easier for Canadians still living in Canada , it is hard to come up with a guarantor who is a Canadian citizen if you are living in the US... .....

Edited March 22, 2008 by MarilynP

[Flames9_RN 358]

Not criticizing you karen, not at all. Just curious how they say it is easier?? In the link that marilyn provided, in the old method, the guarantor, could be a USA citizen, but in the newer method it states just Cdn citizen, or am I missing something!!

[KarenCee 3]

I apologise if I have posted something that is incorrect or unhelpful. I was only trying to help.

its ok, karen it is helpful.... the rules are much easier for Canadians still living in Canada , it is hard to come up with a guarantor who is a Canadian citizen if you are living in the US... .....

Unless it's another fellow Canadian VJ'er that can attest to knowing you for two years AND meets the passport requirement.

[Reba 2]

I've met several fellow Canadians even here in the middle of nowhere North Carolina. I'm sure we're all over the place if you listen hard enough. If the only requirement is that they are a Canadian citizen with a valid passport, just get to know a few of the local Canucks and the next time you need to get a new passport, you're all set! Sounds much easier to me than having to find a guarantor from the old list of approved professions.

[trailmix 77]

Original proof of Canadian citizenship (no copies or

notarized copies).

http://www.pptc.gc.ca/form/pdfs/pptc140.pdf

do they really want you to send in your orignal Birth certificate?? I only have one copy.... I wouldn't want to send it in in case I don't get it back...

Hi Marilyn,

Yes you really have to send in originals with the application

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I received that same email, Karen, and responded that the new policy was not an improvement for Canadians living outside of Canada. Actually, your Canadian guarantor has to have known you for at least 2 years in addition to having a valid Canadian passport. I am repeating here the email response I sent back to the Atlanta Canadians Group about the problems involved:

"The new guarantor policy is not always an easier option for those of us who have no Canadians available to us in the US who meet the criteria for guarantor, and who have to send the application, the photographs and copies of all necessary documentation back to Canada to have an eligible guarantor sign it. That guarantor may also not have seen the originals of your identification so you would need to send that to them as well – not always an option when your identification is your green card or your Driver’s License! Then, when it is returned to you in the US, you have to turn around and re-send it all back to Canada to the Passport Office with your original birth certificate and passport.

It took me an additional 6 weeks of processing time to get my Canadian-guarantor-signed application to Canada for the necessary signatures and back in my hands. There was a lot of anxiety created when USPS couldn’t find my registered priority package containing my guarantor signed application after it re-entered the US from Canada when I checked to see why I didn’t have it yet - 3 weeks after Canada Post tracked its delivery transfer to USPS! Since copies of my DL, green card and military ID were in the package (my guarantor, fortunately, had seen the originals when here on a visit), I had to put notifications on my credit accounts to prevent potential identity theft, and notify Passport Canada that the application was missing in the mail and not to accept any application submitted without my original passport if someone tried to swear to them they were me and had lost the original passport. It was a nightmare of anxiety!

I then had to scramble to put together a second back-up application package since my passport still needed to be renewed. Fortunately, someone had advised me that I could still use the old form and guarantors. If you click on Passport Canada’s website for Canadian citizens in the US, you can download the old passport form that uses a professional as a guarantor, which is what I did. I then had my US chiropractor sign as my guarantor, got new photos done, and got my new passport application ready to mail in 2 days. Of course, that is when the package that had been sent from Canada finally showed up! If I had known I could have used the old application and guarantors initially I would have saved myself a lot of anxiety, 6 additional weeks of to-ing and fro-ing in the mail, along with the additional money sending everything via priority registered mail to and from my guarantor in Canada.

Fortunately the Canadian Passport office was a lot easier to deal with. I couriered the application to them (no more trusting USPS) and they processed it in a week and had it back in my hands within 10 days! I was mightily impressed.

I did inform Passport Canada that their new guarantor policy sucked if you lived outside of Canada, and suggested they always keep the option available of using the list of professionals for guarantors for Canadians living outside of Canada. It cost nearly as much as the passport application fee itself to send everything to and from Canada and then courier it again back to Canada. Without the ‘new’ policy, I would have only incurred the courier fees."

And yes, you have to send your original birth certificate plus your current passport, if unexpired, to the Canada Passport office- no way around that if you want your passport.

Edited March 22, 2008 by Kathryn41

[Reba 2]

But if you're already memebers of a Canadians in Atlanta group, and the other Canadians in the group are still passport carrying Canadians, and if you've known each other 2 years, arent they, and you, eligible to be each others' guarantors?

[SapphireDreams 71]

Other than the hassle of sending it back to Canada to get signed - I think this is wayyyyy easier. Now I can just get my Aunt or sister even to sign for me, that's amazing.

Also if you know you are up for a new passport, then you can always just have the forms filled out and pitcures done when in Canada to visit. I guess this wouldn't work for people who don't get back to visit, but I plant to visit a lot so I'll probably just re-apply in person when I'm there!

[Marilyn. 340]

my passport expired back in November and I haven't applied for a new one yet.. money issues anywho, i figured I would wait until June or July because then I will have know my doctor for 2 years