Visa Package Stuck with CBSA

[Junola 0]

I hope someone can help me here. My fiancée was approved on November 4th and she has been waiting for her visa ever since. She is an asylum seeker and her passport was seized by the CBSA when she applied for asylum status. After the interview the consular officer told us that she was going to contact the Canadian government and request that my fiancée’s passport be sent to her. So we have been waiting since then. 2 days ago the Montreal Consulate sent me the message below:

“Good Morning,

Thank you for your inquiry.

We have received your passports from the Canadian government, we issued the visas and we send them back to the Canadian Government as per normal procedure.

As your passports are no longer with us, they are in the hands of CBSA, please contact them for further inquiries.

Best Regards, “

My question is what’s the CBSA number in Montreal? I have tried to get the toll free number from their website and they told me that I have reached the wrong department. My fiancée even tried to call the CIC office in Rene Lesveque and was told they don’t discuss that information over the phone. I am kind of stuck here.

I know that my fiancée has to withdraw her asylum before getting the passport back but I want to make sure that the CBSA has her visa package before doing that. Does anyone know the number I need to call to retrieve a seized passport?

[Inky 1,111]

Doing google searches seem to come up with -

1, that the person has to go in person to the office and request the passport back.

2, they have to do a voluntary departure to get the passport back

3, CIC is the only person to be able to get the passport returned to you but they do not make it easy.

So she should try going to the CBSA office in the Airport in Montreal and see if she can speak to someone in person about locating her passport and getting it back it seems. I would bring a copy of the email with her when she goes.

Main office list for CBSA

http://www.cbsa.gc.ca/contact/listing/indexpages/index-e.html

BIS calling information

http://www.cbsa.gc.ca/contact/bis-sif-eng.html

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If she has problems following the route Inky outlined she can also go to the office of her Member of Parliament and ask for his/her assistance in getting the passport into her possession. Every MP's office has contact people in the different Federal departments and her MP (the office staff are sufficient, she doesn't need to speak to the MP in person) can make that contact with CIC/CBSA and organize the arrangements for her. Good luck.

Edited December 23, 2011 by Kathryn41

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Have your fiance go to her local Member of Parliaments Constituency office with her paperwork. All MP's offices have special contacts on the various federal Departments and will be able to arrange with CIC or CBSA for the release/return of her passport. I used to work for an MP when I still lived in Canada and this is the type of work we did all the time - liaising with the various federal departments on behalf of our constituents.

Good luck

I am also moving this thread to the duplicate thread in the Canada Regional Forum as this is a Canada specific topic.

[FightWithHope 0]

Have your fiance go to her local Member of Parliaments Constituency office with her paperwork. All MP's offices have special contacts on the various federal Departments and will be able to arrange with CIC or CBSA for the release/return of her passport. I used to work for an MP when I still lived in Canada and this is the type of work we did all the time - liaising with the various federal departments on behalf of our constituents.

Good luck

I am also moving this thread to the duplicate thread in the Canada Regional Forum as this is a Canada specific topic.

Kathryn41 & Inky, you guys are great. You seem to know alot and always willing to help others. Thanks.