Procrastinating........

[Carlawarla 1]

Thanks Carla! Now that I've had my 'moment'...your answers make me feel better. I am very stressed about having no passport and there being some kind of emergency back home - my dad has had some health scares recently. That and I really hope they don't take forever since I wanted to get back home next Christmas and that's exactly when it expires.

Be sure to keep us all updated when you do your's theis summer

I too get kind of freaked out when I think of not having a passport as well. I think it's all about defining my presence here and this whole visa journey with paperwork. Afraid I maybe won't be able to prove who I am or something! Mine expires I think in June or July, but I'm going to apply this month. I'm worried there might be long delays if I leave it too close to expiry because of the June 1st requirements that all Canadians crossing land/air/sea must have a passport. I'll let you know the timelines after I do the paperwork and send it next week.

I know what you mean about parents. My parents are both 88 and while there health is good right now, one just never knows.

[Reba 2]

i read the criteria - to me (and I may be missing something) that when mine expires later this year I meet the criteria they list so this form should be ok, no?

reba - when you made the comment about Legal perm resident in the US...I assume that means you've been there (here? ) a while longer then me?

They've changed it again then since I last read the criteria for applying from the US. I hadn't bothered to look recently.

[Cassie 8]

Got the passport application in the mail to my parents, who are getting a family friend to be my guarantor, and then it's off to Quebec to be processed. It was a ####### to find a photography place willing to take photos to Canadian standards, but I now know where to go in the future. Can't wait to get the new one back in my hot little hands!

Carla -- did you get yours done??

[Carlawarla 1]

Got the passport application in the mail to my parents, who are getting a family friend to be my guarantor, and then it's off to Quebec to be processed. It was a ####### to find a photography place willing to take photos to Canadian standards, but I now know where to go in the future. Can't wait to get the new one back in my hot little hands!

Carla -- did you get yours done??

I did indeed Cassie. I hope it's not rejected though! I went to a local photographer/camera dealer to get my passport pictures and they had an ajustment on their picture processor for Canada style passport pictures, so I think I'm okay there, but then I took my whole package to send to my gf in Canada, so that she could be the guarantor, and mail the whole thing to Ottawa...(why did you say Quebec???), however I realized after I sent my package out, that I didn't cut and seperate the pictures I sent. They had the two pictures side by side, and I didn't cut them! They also didn't have a friggin stamp for the back, so they hand wrote it in, their place of business and the date the picture was taken. *sigh* Again, hopefully they'll accept what I sent and not send it back.

I feel utterly NAKED without my passport. I can only hope it doesn't take very long at all and I have it in my hot little hands soon.

haha I just realized you said hot little hands as well!

So, I sent mine to my gf on...Thursday. Let's keep each other informed as to who gets theirs when.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

That's awesome Carla - so to get this straight (I obviously need to read the requirements again) I do in fact need a guarantor? Is this the same thing as the References section? I may have an issue because I really have 1 best friend and a lot of folks who I might not consider as 'knowing me'...old coworkers who I'm not in touch with....could I put her and her husband? Or should I have 2 people with entirely different addresses - since it says no family members.

I am blind, I think I'm missing the guarantor section

[MissStacey 1]

That's awesome Carla - so to get this straight (I obviously need to read the requirements again) I do in fact need a guarantor? Is this the same thing as the References section? I may have an issue because I really have 1 best friend and a lot of folks who I might not consider as 'knowing me'...old coworkers who I'm not in touch with....could I put her and her husband? Or should I have 2 people with entirely different addresses - since it says no family members.

I am blind, I think I'm missing the guarantor section

Do you have the new simplified application? That one does not need a guarantor.

That is the one I asked for. I'll be getting mine filled out soon and send it off.

Edited March 16, 2009 by MissStacey

[MissStacey 1]

I phoned the nearest Canadian Consulate (Dallas) on Friday to ask them to send me out an application for the new simplified passport application. I got in the mail yesterday. It looks pretty easy and straightforward-I'm gonna get to mine pretty soon. I expire in August but I don't have any immediate travel plans, so might as well get it done.

You can download it from the Canada site MissStacey. Maybe you're not going to change your name? If you are going to change it for the new passport, you can't do the new simplified.

Nope- no plans to change my name. My greencard, SSN and everything I have is in my maiden name. Too much of a pain to change everything now.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

That's awesome Carla - so to get this straight (I obviously need to read the requirements again) I do in fact need a guarantor? Is this the same thing as the References section? I may have an issue because I really have 1 best friend and a lot of folks who I might not consider as 'knowing me'...old coworkers who I'm not in touch with....could I put her and her husband? Or should I have 2 people with entirely different addresses - since it says no family members.

I am blind, I think I'm missing the guarantor section

Do you have the new simplified application? That one does not need a guarantor.

That is the one I asked for. I'll be getting mine filled out soon and send it off.

Yes, I guess the link above is for the simplified - so you have just the 2 references as well?

As an aside - my renewal will continue to be in my maiden name as I have never changed my name in Canada. Guess I've answered my own question!

Edited March 16, 2009 by Udella&Wiz

[MissStacey 1]

That's awesome Carla - so to get this straight (I obviously need to read the requirements again) I do in fact need a guarantor? Is this the same thing as the References section? I may have an issue because I really have 1 best friend and a lot of folks who I might not consider as 'knowing me'...old coworkers who I'm not in touch with....could I put her and her husband? Or should I have 2 people with entirely different addresses - since it says no family members.

I am blind, I think I'm missing the guarantor section

Do you have the new simplified application? That one does not need a guarantor.

That is the one I asked for. I'll be getting mine filled out soon and send it off.

Yes, I guess the link above is for the simplified - so you have just the 2 references as well?

As an aside - my renewal will continue to be in my maiden name as I have never changed my name in Canada. Guess I've answered my own question!

Yes- just the 2 references are needed on mine. I assume they can be US citizens or Canadians. Either way- references are easy enough to get.

[Carlawarla 1]

No need for a guarantuor if you're not changing your name...actually anyone not changing their name can use that simplified version.

This will be my first passport with my new name, thus I have to do it differently. Next time I'll be able to use the other version.

Maybe next time I get a new one we'll have 10 year ones! I heard it was in the works, but not yet I guess.

[MissStacey 1]

Hmmm. The simplified application states the previous passport must have been issued in Canada. Does that mean if I get my new passport via mail sent from the US that I will not be eligible for simplified next time?

[Udella&Wiz 325]

No need for a guarantuor if you're not changing your name...actually anyone not changing their name can use that simplified version.

This will be my first passport with my new name, thus I have to do it differently. Next time I'll be able to use the other version.

Maybe next time I get a new one we'll have 10 year ones! I heard it was in the works, but not yet I guess.

Think the 10 yr starts in 2010 or 2011 - we'll get it NEXT time

Hmmm. The simplified application states the previous passport must have been issued in Canada. Does that mean if I get my new passport via mail sent from the US that I will not be eligible for simplified next time?

Check in the first page of the passport where the picture is - isn't there a field which says Issued at - or something similar

[Carlawarla 1]

Hmmm. The simplified application states the previous passport must have been issued in Canada. Does that mean if I get my new passport via mail sent from the US that I will not be eligible for simplified next time?

Well, whether you're in the US or not, I mean applying, it's still going to be "issued" in Canada. I have no idea what the heck that statement means. Don't they HAVE to be issued in Canada? Maybe there are differences if you got one for emergency purposes from a Consulate in another country is the only other place I'd think you could get one "issued".

I would think that the next time you could do it simplified as well.

[MissStacey 1]

Ok- I reread it. It said if it was issued via the US after Aug 2003- it's all good.

Haha. I haven't even got the new one and I'm already worrying about the next one after that.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Between the 3 of us - we WILL get this application off!!!!! We are so funny