How to get a temporary passport in Canada while waiting for your passport with visa (split)

[ToddD 22]

On 7/13/2022 at 9:26 AM, ToddD said:

See attached what she will be requesting today. It is a limited Temporary Passport for this situation where her original (and still active) passport is stuck with another country visa office for processing and need to travel during that time. Obviously she wouldn't need this if the MTL consulate was responding to a simple additional document to process for us. It's now week 5 waiting for MTL with no updates about how much longer it will take. 

Here is an update for anyone that has a visa / passport stuck at the consulate and they must travel. You can get a temporary passport. Cost is about $200 CAD. 

 

Be prepared to spend many hours at the passport office and also be prepared for the staff there not knowing what you're talking about. You'll need to be polite but push for what is allowed to get the temp passport and when you get your original back with the visa in it to do a exchange, where the original passport with the visa in it is activated again (only one passport can be active at a time) and surrender the temp passport. 

1. Ask for a temporary passport application, because your current passport is "Inaccessible" (official term is Inaccessible Passport)
   • You can get a temp passport if you prove your current passport is stuck at a foreign consulate for processing AND you must travel
2. Show proof of your passport being stuck in processing with the consulate and also proof that you have corresponded with them about the delays. 
3. Show proof of upcoming travel
4. Bring an original birth certificate and proof of your identity 
5. Fill-out an application for a temporary passport (might be the same as a regular passport, but make sure they file it properly)
6. Provide a guarantor (my wife used her adult daughter that is not living with her). The agent will call. 
7. Provide 2 references that are friends that can vouch for you. The agent will call them. 
8. If travel is urgent, the passport can be made within a couple of days, so show proof that you must pick it up in time for travel. 
9. Once you pick-up the temp passport, make sure there is a stamp/sticker inside that shows that it is a temp passport (the cover won't say it). 
   • I heard the temp passport is good for one year, not just for this specific travel date. 
10. When you arrive at the border, bring your proof of travel, proof of needing the temp passport, and of course your temp passport.
    • In our case, the USA agent didn't ask for anything other than the passport and didn't say anything or ask about it, but that's no guarantee. 
11. When you finally receive your original passport with the visa, go to the passport office again
    • Request that you need to surrender your temp passport and have the original activated again. 
    • You cannot carry two passports (from what we were told), so you need to activate one and surrender the other. 
    • You might need to push that you're not applying for anything new and all the agent needs to do is accept your temp passport and activate the original. My wife had to push a little about the urgency of this swap, because the initial staff wanted her to wait in the long application line all day. This wasn't necessary. 
    • My wife stood with the agent while the original was being activated again on the screen. It takes about 30 minutes for the system to process the swap, but it will be fairly quick (not hours or days). 

[Ontarkie 13,979]

Great post thanks for the update too. I've split this off the mega group so it doesn't get lost so easily. 

[Mac_and_K 6]

Adding my experience with the temporary passport process:

 

Just got my original passport reactivated in Toronto (Victoria St offices). They insisted on keeping my passport for a day and a half - said it can take up to 24 hours for the reactivation to be fully processed and they wanted to make sure it worked before returning for me. I dropped it off Tuesday afternoon and picked it up Thursday morning. Something to keep in mind!

 

Thanks again @ToddD for this post - it was so helpful!