Passport question

[Infantry Grunt 0]

I am using my husbands account to post. I am the Canadian, married to the American. I came to the USA as a visitor and we ended up getting married and applying for AOS. We had our interview and the green card is on its way.

I do not have a passport, I never had one and at the time I came here to visit we didn't need one to cross the boarder.

Do I need to get one now to visit canada?

Will getting one affect any of my immigration, will i need to notify them that i have gotten a passport, since at the time i applied and got my green card I didn't have a passport?

How do i get one? I need a canadian passport is that right?

I'm not sure how to apply for one while in the USA and have a guaranter sign things verifying that its me when I haven't known anyone in the USA for two years and the canadians i know are in canada.

Thanks for the help

[Udella&Wiz 325]

This is where you want to go http://www.ppt.gc.ca/index.aspx

Not sure about what you'll have to do.....had you returned to Canada, what would you ahve used as identification? I assume you have your Cdn birth certificate alreadya nd possibly oterh Cdn documentation?

[Wis-Can 0]

YES you need a passport.

[Infantry Grunt 0]

I have my birth certificate, drivers license which is now expired, health card from canada and social insurance card from canada.

[trailmix 77]

I have my birth certificate, drivers license which is now expired, health card from canada and social insurance card from canada.

You would not be able to fly in to Canada without a passport - not because Canada wouldn't allow it but the U.S. carrier would not allow you to board without it (probably).

If you wanted to drive to Canada, at the land border they would allow you to enter with your Canadian birth certificate. As for getting back in to the U.S. you could probably use your Green Card only (personally I would not try to enter the U.S. without a passport now - but that's me).

CBP - What travel documents and identification are required for a foreign national or green card holder to enter the U.S.? link

Foreign nationals that are lawful permanent residents of the U.S. must present a Permanent Resident Card ("Green Card", INS Form I-551), a Reentry Permit (if gone for more than 1 year), or a Returning Resident Visa (if gone for 2 years or more) to reenter the United States. U.S. LPRs are not required by the U.S. to have a passport for travel within the Western Hemisphere, although most foreign destinations will require you to have one to enter their country. (LPRs that are out of the U.S. for more than 180 days are subject to new immigrant inspection procedures as per 8 USC 1101.)

[antda 13]

Hi Infantry Grunt,

Glad that the Visitor to AOS route worked for you and congrats on passing your AOS interview. Hope you get your green card soon too!

Yes, it is true that prior to June 2009, one did not need a passport to cross the border from Canada to the USA. Since then, the rules have changed.

So to visit back to Canada, you will need a passport, and/or other WHTI compliant document (enhanced license, nexus card, etc.) to cross back.

If you are going by air, a passport is a must here, as that is the new requirement for air travel, regardless.

If you don't mind me asking, what type of identification did you use when you crossed the border? Did you cross by land or air? Were you asked about your passport during your AOS interview and/or any other part of the AOS process? For example, a foreign passport is needed for the biometrics stage of the AOS, how did you manage to get through that? And did they give you a hard time for not having a passport?

Hmmm...I'm surprised that you haven't run into problems with immigration about this yet, as they normally want to see foreign passports before they approve cases..Oh well..Sounds kind of odd to me that they would approve an AOS case without a passport, especially given the new travel requirements too...

Wow, I guess you must have been in the USA for quite awhile before your AOS case was approved? Am I right to assume that you've been here in the USA for awhile (before June 2009?) and that it was awhile since you crossed back to Canada?

So, as soon as you can apply for a Canadian passport, yes, you should definitely get one asap!

You don't necessarily have to notify the USCIS about your new Canadian passport, since your AOS case is approved anyways. But don't be surprised if you have to notify them later on, for other immigration-related cases further along, such as for citizenship, and for other travel purposes....

You will also find too, that you will need your passport to apply for an American Social Security Card/Number...So don't be surprised if you run into problems there too without a passport there either...

And yes, you can apply for a Canadian passport while in the USA.

See the link that another vjer posted, for more info.....

You just have to send the form, along with the fees, Canadian-sized passport photos, and proof of Canadian citizenship, and you're good to go there.

Though it is sort of tricky to do such....

As you also need a guarrantor and two references....

The guarrantor has to be a Canadian citizen and have known you for at least 2 years...

But the references can be anyone, except for relatives and/or family.....

If you don't have a guarrantor, you can have a "in lieu of a guarrantor" form...but that can delay things as well....

Hope this helps. Good luck on your journey too.

Ant

P.S. as that would be helpful here on vj too..Thanks...

I am using my husbands account to post. I am the Canadian, married to the American. I came to the USA as a visitor and we ended up getting married and applying for AOS. We had our interview and the green card is on its way.

I do not have a passport, I never had one and at the time I came here to visit we didn't need one to cross the boarder.

Do I need to get one now to visit canada?

Will getting one affect any of my immigration, will i need to notify them that i have gotten a passport, since at the time i applied and got my green card I didn't have a passport?

How do i get one? I need a canadian passport is that right?

I'm not sure how to apply for one while in the USA and have a guaranter sign things verifying that its me when I haven't known anyone in the USA for two years and the canadians i know are in canada.

Thanks for the help

Edited January 8, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Infantry Grunt 0]

Thanks for the info, I will apply for one asap.

When I crossed the border it was by car and I showed my birth certificate and drivers license, which is all I have ever had to give while crossing. I did come prior to july 2009 so before the new rules were in place. I hadn't crossed back since because we have been in the AOS process.

I was originally going to file for one but was uncomfortable doing so while in AOS process since I would have to mail my actual birth certificate to do so and didn't want to run the chance of something going wrong.

I wasn't given much problems at all about not having a passport, they asked if i had one at biometrics and i said i didn't and showed them my ID's and they did the biometrics and didn't seem bothered. My biometrics didn't even mention that I needed to have it, when i filed the paperwork nothing said it was a requirement. Had no idea it could have caused me a lot of problems.

The AOS interview they asked for my passport but I said I didn't have one and have never had one and they didn't seem concerned by that, he looked at my expired dl, birth certificate and other ID's that I had.

I guess i should consider myself lucky that it didn't complicate things because the whole process was so stressful I'm glad it wasn't any worse than that.

[antda 13]

Hi Infantry Grunt,

No problem..Glad to be able to help here...

And yes, travelling by car, prior to June 2009, all that was needed was a birth certificate and driver's license, so it's understandable that you would only need such for border crossings. Likewise, my US Citizen husband did the same thing too, with just using his birth certificate and driver's license to cross for many years, and to this day he still doesn't have a passport (he has an enhanced driver's license to cross now though, in lieu of an American passport).

Understandable, too, that you didn't have a passport before, as it wasn't needed back then, and that you were worried about your AOS process instead.

Sigh...The rules have certainly changed over the years..gone were the days of just crossing with a birth certificate and driver's license....

In fact, the only reason why I applied for my first Canadian passport in the first place, so many years ago, was because my Canadian driver's license expired, and that I didn't have any other acceptable identification...Not for travel purposes really, as I was too broke as a college student to travel internationally anyways....Lol..so who knew that at the time when I met my American husband years later that my Canadian passport would come in handy eventually....

I guess I kind of lucked out there when it came time me to actually get use out of it for travel purposes..lol....

But yeah, I know of many people who haven't applied for passports or other documents yet either...until this new border crossing rule change.....

And I know what you mean there about losing the birth certificate, as I had a similar problem, when I renewed my Canadian passport. But in my case, it was worse, as I would have to give in my original Canadian naturalization certificate (I wasn't born in Canada), so to lose that would be far worse than losing a birth certificate, as to lose a naturalization certificate would be harder to replace. Lol..I run into the same problem again now too, with my American naturalization certificate, and likewise, because of that, have not applied for an American passport yet because of that (I have an enhanced driver's license to cross now, so that will have to do for now in lieu of an American passport).

So if your worry is that you would lose your Canadian birth certificate, I suggest that you apply in-person at a Passport Canada office instead of applying by mail, if you can do such by driving over the border and crossing by land. That is what I did, in St. Catherines, Ontario, and I got my Canadian naturalization certificate back right away. Lol...I don't think that Canada Post or USPS can be trusted nowadays with important documents like this, and to apply in-person is so much easier and quicker to do too. All you have to do is cross the border into Canada with your birth certificate and other identification, and come back to the USA with your green card and other identification, and you will be fine there. Also, when you cross the border by land, just show proof that you are applying for a Canadian passport (that is what I did), and you should be ok there too, coming back to the USA. My passport took about 2 weeks or so to arrive by courier (DHL) here in the USA....So no problems at all here (other than having a hard time finding Canadian guarrantors and references...uggh)..

Glad that you were not given too many problems applying for your AOS and that they didn't give you too many problems when you didn't have a passport for the interview. I guess you gave them whatever you had, and they were ok with that.....After all, you can't give them a passport that you don't have...lol....Very lucky, indeed!

Hope this helps as well. Good luck with applying for a Canadian passport and good luck with the rest of your journey too.

Ant

Thanks for the info, I will apply for one asap.

When I crossed the border it was by car and I showed my birth certificate and drivers license, which is all I have ever had to give while crossing. I did come prior to july 2009 so before the new rules were in place. I hadn't crossed back since because we have been in the AOS process.

I was originally going to file for one but was uncomfortable doing so while in AOS process since I would have to mail my actual birth certificate to do so and didn't want to run the chance of something going wrong.

I wasn't given much problems at all about not having a passport, they asked if i had one at biometrics and i said i didn't and showed them my ID's and they did the biometrics and didn't seem bothered. My biometrics didn't even mention that I needed to have it, when i filed the paperwork nothing said it was a requirement. Had no idea it could have caused me a lot of problems.

The AOS interview they asked for my passport but I said I didn't have one and have never had one and they didn't seem concerned by that, he looked at my expired dl, birth certificate and other ID's that I had.

I guess i should consider myself lucky that it didn't complicate things because the whole process was so stressful I'm glad it wasn't any worse than that.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[trailmix 77]

So to visit back to Canada, you will need a passport, and/or other WHTI compliant document (enhanced license, nexus card, etc.) to cross back.

If you are going by air, a passport is a must here, as that is the new requirement for air travel, regardless.

Actually Ant, they allow for Green Card holders to use their green card. Some airlines may not accept it, I can't speak to that - but the CBP says they can - as per my link in my post above.

Also at the special website they have set up for people who are travelling to the Olympics in Vancouver:

http://www.getyouhome.gov (choose U.S. Citizen then Special Groups on that page for details)

U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents: Document requirements for Lawful Permanent Residents will not change under WHTI. U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents can continue to use their permanent resident card (Form I-551) or other valid evidence of permanent residence status.

Edited January 8, 2010 by trailmix