Every Canadian passport contains an electronic chip and it’s important to take extra care as a passport can be rendered useless if even slightly wet or torn. Its also advisable to keep birth certificates, citizenship papers secured and easily accessible at all times.
A Canadian citizen from Kelowna, B.C. was prevented from traveling because of a slightly torn passport. He said because of the damage, the officials at the passport office told him it couldn’t be renewed and the passport would be declared invalid, forcing Grant Smith to reapply and once again prove he’s a Canadian citizen.
He became a Canadian citizen when he was 17 but because he had misplaced his citizenship certificate, Citizenship and Immigration Canada notified him that a new passport copy would take between 5 months to 2 years. This meant he would be unable to travel anywhere, which he needed to do for work.
To make matters even worse, Smith was told that his Nexus card would also be rendered useless because it’s tied to his passport. Since he had his old expired passport in his possession along with a valid Nexus card and having been a regular taxpayer, Smith was shocked that officials couldn’t just confirm him in the system. It was only after he enlisted the assistance of his local MP, Stephen Fuhr that he found a solution.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada receives 55,000 requests every year for citizenship replacement certificates and while that can take time to process those requests, copies can also be expedited in special circumstances.
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Interested candidates: Find out whether you qualify to Canada by completing our free on-line evaluation. We will provide you with our evaluation within 1-2 business days.
