Passport expires April 2008....

[Laura0588 0]

Hi everyone, another question for all you experts out there:

I am supposed to go to my interview (which is not scheduled yet) in Montreal with a passport that does not expire in less than a year..... mine expire April 2008.......... I am estimating my interview will hopefully be June, maybe later, so what do I do with the passport?? I would think a year would be too soon for it to be renewed?? Should I be trying to renew it now?? Especially with the wait times now I don't want to leave it too long.

Any suggestions?

Laura

[misa 2]

To be on the safe side, I'd just get a new one now so you won't have to worry about it later.

[zyggy 9]

Yeah.. you just have to have a reason why you need it earler.. Having a visa requirement with a certain validity on your passport is a sufficient reason...

[charmie 0]

Hi everyone, another question for all you experts out there:

I am supposed to go to my interview (which is not scheduled yet) in Montreal with a passport that does not expire in less than a year..... mine expire April 2008.......... I am estimating my interview will hopefully be June, maybe later, so what do I do with the passport?? I would think a year would be too soon for it to be renewed?? Should I be trying to renew it now?? Especially with the wait times now I don't want to leave it too long.

Any suggestions?

Laura

Hi Laura,

I'm still waiting for my interview at Montreal as well (which still hasn't been booked). My passport expires Mar 2008 and I had my fiance call the consulate. They said that your passport only has to be valid for atleast 6 months from your interview date.

[mozplay 29]

I thought the passport needed to be valid for a year .. hmmm.

HOWEVER regardless, just know that your visa will be in your passport - permanently affixed - and if you have to go through the AOS process and if it takes a while then personally, I would not want to be applying for a new passport from out of the country. Especially since you have to send in your old one to get a new one (if I'm wrong about this, somebody shout at me) which means that you would be in the US, without your passport and without your visa or I-94. It's just so much easier to do from Canada, not so?

I may be paranoid (ok.. so I am paranoid) but I like to have a valid passport at all times. Anybody think I'm being too neurotic about this?

Mo

Oh.. if you do decide to get a new one - do it now. No... do it yesterday. There is apparently a backlog from hell.

Mo

[*JG* 2]

I thought the requirement was that it not expire for 6 months.

Regardless, I would do it now. Jomo's expires in 2009 and I am already making a mental not for him to renew when we go back to avoid any gap between that passport and getting a US one when he becomes a citizen.

[monicatony 0]

Hi there

I just had to renew my passport as it expired in Sep. Thankfully I got a great tip about filling out your passport application online. Go to www.ppt.gc.ca and follow the instructions to fill out your passport online. When you do this they fastrack you at the passport office.... with your own line apart from all the other applicants with handwritten applications. I walked into the office in St. Catharines 2 minutes after the doors opened and would have been no. 30 in line. I mentioned to the person at the door that I had an online application and she told me to wait near the wall at the front and they called my number about 1 1/2 minutes later! Another tip... if you want your new passport issued in your new married name, you need 1 other piece of ID already in the new surname ie. Social Insurance card. .... as well as your original marriage certificate. I mentioned that I needed my passport ASAP as my K3 packet for the Montreal Consulate was held up until I got the new passport number and date of expiry, and I paid $30 extra to be able to pick it up in person 1 week later. I just emailed the Montreal Consulate to let them know I was changing my new passport to my married name and would submit all future forms in that name. They responded that that was no problem and the name change would be added to me file. So far so good!

Monica

[brnidokiegurl 0]

THis is what Casa told me about Ahmeds passport:

The passport must be valid for at least six months from the date the person departs to the US . Also we are unable to determine how long it will take to process a case before the interview. We suggest that your fiancé renew his passport since he still has time before his appointment date

His would have been good 6 months past interview, but not knowing when he would "depart" he got another one.

[jynxNdragnfly 0]

Ok I may be new around here but you'll have to trust me when I say I'm an expert on the subject

1. First take the suggestion of filling out the 'Passport Online' Application. Don't print the application then fill it in with pen. Type in the info then print it out. You get a faster line when you apply in an office in your area. Feel free to let me know which office you'd be going to and I may be able to tell you which day/time is best or an approximate wait because even doing the online form you have to wait for all of the other people in front of you that did it.

2. The fact that you need it for a visa is a valid reason to cancel it early. You may want to bring any paperwork you have that says how long the passport has to be valid for just to show that US immigration wants it that way not you. Even if it's just a print out from the USCIS site or whatever. Just in case the person you get is having a rough day it helps show that you're not being a 'pushy nutcase'. LOL

3. When it comes to the 'backlog' that's only if you mail away your passport rather than going in person to an office. If you go in person you'll get your new passport somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks. It comes registered through Canada post. They will not 'expedite' it any quicker at the current time unless you have paid proof of travel when you apply.

4. If your ID (driver's licence, health card, sin card) is in your married name then you won't have to show your marriage certificate. At least one of those must be in the married name and be sure to fill out the year of marriage and surname of spouse on the form. It shows how you were born with one name and now using another.

I know this may be long but I'm sure it's helpful If anyone else has any other passport questions feel free to get in touch with me and I'll be sure to help you out.

[mozplay 29]

Well... Mr. Passport Expert, lol.. welcome to VJ and thanks for the info. It's always good to have people who actually know what they are talkign about. Not like me - I talk out of my azz half the time

Mo

[Laura0588 0]

I ended up taking advice and getting a new passport issued asap. I did fill out the app online (wayyyyy faster when i got to the passport office) and then it was mailed a few weeks later. It seems to me that something this simple should be done just in case..... no sense in something i can control holding up my visa.

[misa 2]

Hey Laura, glad to hear you got a new passport! One less thing for you to worry about now.

[Laura0588 0]

I know! Probably the easiest part of this whole thing was getting the passport, lol.

[jynxNdragnfly 0]

Uhhhhhhhhhh I'm not a Mr LOL I'll soon be a Mrs though Glad the advice helped. If there's one thing I know in and out it's passports. Soon enough it will be US immigration I'm sure. Though with a year of border crossing every weekend under my belt I'm getting to be an expert in that area too.