Renewing your Canadian Passport

[NikLR 13,227]

So I had a few issues today while sending away the renewal for my Canadian passport.  First of all, my local UPS had no idea what the phone number was, and neither did I!  The government page that tells you where to send the passport for renewal didn't have it listed anywhere in plain sight (unless I'm blind.)  Fedex had it in their system but cost me twice as much to ship!  ($45 vs $22)  Granted it'll get there Wednesday, vs next Wednesday but I was okay with the extra week for $23.   Photos already cost me $37 plus gas to drive to the place that does that with almost no rejections.  On top of the passport being $100 more because I'm mailing from the USA.   

 

For future reference for everyone who's renewing from the USA, and want to use a courier so you can track where your passport is going:

 

Government of Canada 
Passport Program
22 de Varennes Street
Gatineau QC J8T 8R1
Canada

(819) 997-8338

 

[Going through 5,671]

14 hours ago, NikLR said:

On top of the passport being $100 more because I'm mailing from the USA.   

This kills me every time because there's nothing "extra" that needs to be done on their side for passport renewals from the USA.

 

 

[NikLR 13,227]

15 hours ago, Going through said:

This kills me every time because there's nothing "extra" that needs to be done on their side for passport renewals from the USA.

 

 

Im assuming shipping back? They used to make you send a prepaid envelope but that was not on the instructions anymore?

[Going through 5,671]

56 minutes ago, NikLR said:

Im assuming shipping back? They used to make you send a prepaid envelope but that was not on the instructions anymore?

I thought of the shipping too....but even still, that's quite a profit after Canada Post fees lol

[dburnt 59]

One more reason to just do it on a visit to Canada I think.  I'll be going in the fall for grandbaby #3, and will just go into the Passport office there (an hour from family) and have it delivered to me while I'm there.  Someday may not have that option, but for now, safer/faster/cheaper? 

 And wow Going Through...N400 in 96 days is amazing.  Once my i_751 is done (about 16 to 18 months processing), N-400 is another 8 months+ at CSC.   I'll be a Visa Journey member for life it seems

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, dburnt said:

One more reason to just do it on a visit to Canada I think.  I'll be going in the fall for grandbaby #3, and will just go into the Passport office there (an hour from family) and have it delivered to me while I'm there.  Someday may not have that option, but for now, safer/faster/cheaper? 

 And wow Going Through...N400 in 96 days is amazing.  Once my i_751 is done (about 16 to 18 months processing), N-400 is another 8 months+ at CSC.   I'll be a Visa Journey member for life it seems

Yeah the speed of my N400 pleasantly surprised me as well---- I wish I had discovered VJ back in the day when I was doing my i-485 and EAD...was quite a lot to figure out on my own!  I didn't discover VJ until I started researching the N400. 

 

Good luck with your filing  

[NikLR 13,227]

11 hours ago, dburnt said:

One more reason to just do it on a visit to Canada I think.  I'll be going in the fall for grandbaby #3, and will just go into the Passport office there (an hour from family) and have it delivered to me while I'm there.  Someday may not have that option, but for now, safer/faster/cheaper? 

 And wow Going Through...N400 in 96 days is amazing.  Once my i_751 is done (about 16 to 18 months processing), N-400 is another 8 months+ at CSC.   I'll be a Visa Journey member for life it seems

I purposely renewed with a 10 year passport because chances of me becoming a USC anytime soon is NIL.   I had plans to renew in Canada originally but each time I was about to book tickets, something in my life happened so the money was needed elsewhere.  Such is life eh?

[k_stacky 65]

How did you figure out where to go to get your canadian passport pictures?

The extra cost of filling from the US makes me cringe, but having an expired passport is awful.

[NikLR 13,227]

12 hours ago, k_stacky said:

How did you figure out where to go to get your canadian passport pictures?

The extra cost of filling from the US makes me cringe, but having an expired passport is awful.

I had asked the Canadian consulate here when I had to go there to okay my kid's passport renewal.  But there was also an online resource as linked in this thread:

 

[NikLR 13,227]

My passport has been expired since July 2017.  I lost it in my house and found it again recently while cleaning.  

Making plans to go to Canada and then realizing you cant really does suck. 

Edited February 13, 2018 by NikLR

[Flames9_RN 358]

My Cdn passport expired yrs ago,  it did hurt not to renew it as I do prefer to travel on it, but at the time they were only good for 5 yrs..nice to see they are good for 10 now.,...When I head back to Canada, I hand over my USA 1, but state Cdn citizen,lol  They have never given me an issue.  1 day may renew it again.   

[NikLR 13,227]

Not a USC so a Canadian one is my only option.  

[NikLR 13,227]

For anyone interested I got my passport back today.  Fedex has tried to deliver it the last 3 days but I wasn't home until today. So that was pretty darn quick.  Fastest Ive had in Canada was 3 weeks. 

[iPod 89]

On 2/23/2018 at 10:51 AM, NikLR said:

For anyone interested I got my passport back today.  Fedex has tried to deliver it the last 3 days but I wasn't home until today. So that was pretty darn quick.  Fastest Ive had in Canada was 3 weeks. 

They send it Fedex and you have to sign for it. I'm pretty sure that's the reason it's more expensive, even though I'm not sure it would account for the extra $100. Just sending it with regular USPS was about $30!

 

ETA: At least they now let you renew it for 10 years.

Edited March 4, 2018 by iPod

[NikLR 13,227]

3 hours ago, iPod said:

They send it Fedex and you have to sign for it. I'm pretty sure that's the reason it's more expensive, even though I'm not sure it would account for the extra $100. Just sending it with regular USPS was about $30!

 

ETA: At least they now let you renew it for 10 years.

I sent it fedex to them, I didn't mind having to sign for it but they kept trying to deliver when I wasn't home and the place it ended up at (after 6pm) closed at 7pm and was across town... And by across town I mean in another suburb of Denver like an hour away.  LOL