Thank goodness I have a healthy dose of cynicism when it comes to getting anything done in this country and didn’t buy a plane ticket before receiving my new passport.
I sent my passport renewal the 13th of May, a Friday, and they received it first thing the following Tuesday morning. Their site said to allow up to 20 business days to process, plus mailing time each way. That meant that they should have my passport processed by the end of the day on Tuesday June 14th and I would expect it by that Friday, the 17th.
I put on my application that I was traveling June 25th, but, of course, wasn’t stupid enough to buy a ticket for that date even though I gave them an extra five business days as a buffer.
Friday last week, I requested an update on my application and received it today by email. My passport renewal will be processed the week of the 20th and can be expected the week of the 27th.
If I had made any travel arrangements I would be scrambling right now. Of course, there is the odd chance that they will process it on the 20th and it will arrive at the eleventh hour by the 24th, but I’m not holding my breath and I don’t dare buy a ticket for the week of the 27th.
So at this point, it looks like I’m leaving the first week in July. Right when ticket prices go up for the summer rush. Thanks, Passport Canada!
What a bunch of poop. But I agree with you that you should not book till early July. Any chance that you can pay for expedited delivery?
I would never waste money on expedited service. Did that once in Quebec for my birth certificate and they punished me for it by making me wait a year to get the stupid thing.
My passport fee just got posted to my credit card, so I imagine it’s being processed this week and I could get it next week… No exclamation points yet.
Re: Birth certificates… we can now get Birth/Death/Marriage and Divorce decrees at our local Dept. of Motor Vehicles.
Wow!
It is a nightmare to get a birth certificate from Quebec if you no longer live in Quebec. Yukon would not accept my passport or small birth certificate as proof that I am a Canadian citizen (!). They told me I had to get my big (full form) birth certificate before I could get Yukon health coverage. I don’t remember all the details because it was so long ago, but I couldn’t make a request through the QC vital stats website because I would be having the certificate shipped out province. I ended up having to send a registered letter. I paid for expedited service so that it would come before I left Yukon and I could leave with health coverage since QC would no longer cover me. The certificate did not come and I spent the winter without health coverage (this was the winter I had the table saw incident and would have gladly gone to an ER for stitches if I had health insurance…). Nine months later, I’m back in Yukon and trying this process again. I managed to find a phone number for the birth certificate office in QC and eventually got transferred to someone. He snarkily said (and I’m translating), “Yeah, I’ve had your file on my desk for last summer. Since you’re wasting my time with a call today, it’s going to bottom of the pile.” And he hung up on me. I got my birth certificate something like 14 months after I requested it.
And it was still easier than getting my driving abstract from QC.
I would like to think that Karma has bitten that guy right in the ass.
May I ask, if you don’t mind, if you can go to a hospital in Canada, without health insurance (such as with the table saw incident)?
Bast, yes, but you have to pay out of pocket like you do in the US. I wasn’t insured when I had my bad finger accident in ’04 and I had to give the clinic $75 in cash before a doctor would see me.
Thank you, Rae.
Thank you for asking. It was a very expensive $75 to be told that I’d done everything I could for myself the night before…