My passport experience (long post):
I originally applied in person at Service Canada in June 22, the expected mailing date was August 18.
1st transfer attempt (trip date: Sunday August 31st)
- July 21 st (10 days before my trip ) - I called the passport line to ask for a transfer, I was told I was going to get a call 2 business days before my trip to let me know the time and date to pick up my passport
- Never received a call, I tried contacting the passport line but it was busy
- Friday July 29 (1 business days before my trip)- I went to the Vancouver Passport Office in person , got there at 10:00 am. I was told by an employee that they never received my transfer request, because no one sent my files and that I wasn’t going to be able to travel. I had to miss my trip.
2nd transfer attempt, rescheduled trip (Departure date : Sunday August 14)
- August 2nd (10 days before my rescheduled trip )- I called the passport line to ask for another transfer, this time I was sent a confirmation email and was told I was going to get a call to let me know the pickup date.
- Monday August 8- Called the passport line to let them know I hadn’t received a call, the agent was rude and unhelpful, he refused to check my application status,said that I had to wait 2 days before my trip to receive a call,
- Thursday August 11 (2 business days before my trip)- I didn’t received a call, so I contacted the passport line. This agent was helpful and nice, she checked my application status, and informed me I had to go in person to the passport office as soon as possible, she mentioned that I didn’t need to bring a new application, I just needed to give them my transfer app number.
- Friday August 11 - 1 business day before my trip) - I lined up at 5:30 am outside the Passport Centre at Vancouver (Sinclair centre ), there was a long line up by the time I arrived. They let us into the building at 7:00 am, we stood in line until 7:30 am and they started heading out tickets, I told the employee that I had requested a transfer, she gave me a red ticket and directed me to go to a waiting room
- 8:30 am - they started calling people with white tickets, in groups of 10
- 8:50 am - they started calling people with red tickets in groups of 10, I was part of the second group. We entered the main passport office and stood in line for about 10 minutes, they checked my application number, airplane tickets and ID at a counter, the lady asked If I had a new application with me and I told her I didn’t. She gave me a ticket to go to another counter
- 9:35 my ticket number was called, I was asked for my ID, airplane tickets and file number at a counter. The lady at the counter printed the documents I had originally submit with my application, went through the whole application form and asked to confirm some details, the whole process in this counter took about 15 min, I was given a green slip and asked to come back at 2:00 pm to pick up my passport
- 2:00 pm- I lined up outside the office, inside the building. They checked my green slip and let me in. Once inside I lined up for 10 minutes. The guy at the counter was in the middle of an argument with a security officer, he looked at my file number and said “is not ready come back in 1 hour”
- 3:20 pm- lined up again, this time the line was really long, people were worried about not making it before the office closed at 4:30, it took about half an hour to get to the counter, they checked my file number again and I was finally able to get my passport in time for my trip. I was lucky but there was several people who were told to pickup their passport at 2:00 and two hours later they were still waiting to see if they would get them on time.
It was a long process and I still can’t believe is done. Best of luck to everyone who is still waiting, I hope you get your documents on time for your trips.
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