I've called that number 50 times a day for 2 weeks. I've never been placed in the queue and only get the automated message. I've no idea how others do it.
Canadian Passport - Mail-In Application Timelines
- Thread starter zam7
- Start date
I only had to show I was travelling within 15-25 days. I showed a hotel booking. I had an appt on May 21st and show I was leaving on June 14th. They said they can give me a passport before my travel date. Got my passport 2 days ago.
GuyanaGirl
Hero Member
- Jul 4, 2016
- 313
- Visa Office......
- Kitchener
- App. Filed.......
- July, 20th 2016
- Med's Request
- Upfront
Keep calling for atleast 20-30 mins. You will get place in queue. I called over 200 times (3-4 seconds of each call) and after 26 mins I was in queue with 168 people ahead of me and waited 50mins for my turn.
For those people who apply early May should be in the system.
Mail to Quebec May 3
Update my information June 7 and Got my File number.
For those people who just want an update on your file or need a fill number to just call the payment line, You still need to wait but better then the main line
Mail to Quebec May 3
Update my information June 7 and Got my File number.
For those people who just want an update on your file or need a fill number to just call the payment line, You still need to wait but better then the main line
I can only speak from my experience. When I called last Thursday and got through the phone lines, they told me I was too early to request a transfer based on my travel date of July 3, 2022. She told me to call back June 16/17 - approximately 10 business days before to request the file transfer. I had to keep in mind that they are obviously closed Canada day
Thanks for this - I'm trying today (12 business days out) so hopefully that will be fine, but I guess we'll see.
Keep us posted. I had my file transferred Monday. I'm curious to see if you received the same vague and ambiguous instructions on how to know if your file was successfully transferred and accepted by the receiving Passport Office.
Here's my experience calling them from this morning. I applied end of April (application delivered May 2). New citizen/passport. Travel date June 24.
Started dialling at 8:30am, eventually got through to be on hold at about 9:10am. You just have to keep trying over and over. When you call it seems you either get through (you'll get a list of six options), a pre-recorded message that lasts about a minute (you can hang up as soon as you hear it), or just beeps as it fails to even connect.
When I got through there were 376 people in line ahead of me. You get an update every minute or so telling you how far the queue has progressed. It goes at about 30 people every 10 minutes (I made a note of the number/time every so often), so you can plan around that if you have other things to do. I got through after about 2 hours.
Agent answered and I explained I had upcoming travel (told them the date) and that I wanted to have my file transferred. They asked for my file number, which I did not yet have. Asked for the usual background information then put me on hold again while they reviewed the information. This second period of hold only took a couple minutes, and you got some different hold music to the stuff you'd been listening to for the previous two hours, so at least there's a bit of variety.
Agent came back and told me some information was missing from my guarantor. Unclear what information was missing, and I can't see anything on the form I missed, so not really sure why that would be the case. (Speculation: for brand new applications maybe they have to speak with the guarantor? Anyone have any insights on this?) They gave me a phone number for my guarantor to call to provide the missing information. I really hope for my guarantor's sake that they will not also have to spend hours on hold for this.
They were still able to request a transfer to my local office, although I assume my guarantor will need to call them before the local office will handle anything. They said it'd be $45 for express handling and "possibly some pick-up fees". They wanted to know the time of the flight, so have that on hand. They told me to expect a call from a blocked/private number either at the end of the week prior to my trip (so around June 17) or early the week of the trip. Usual spiel about no guarantees and that the local office may not even accept the transfer, etc. etc.
They didn't volunteer my file number, so I had to ask for it. I'd advise making a note to yourself to remember to ask for your file number if you don't already have it, in case you need it for a future call.
I made sure to explicitly clarify how the transfer process works given that they have my original citizenship certificate. They said it wasn't a problem and everything would be transferred over.
I didn't ask about what I'd need to bring to the local passport office (e.g., new forms, photos, etc.) - I figure I can ask the local office when they call me.
Now hoping my guarantor can get through to them quickly and then crossing fingers to hear back from the local office in a little over a week.
Started dialling at 8:30am, eventually got through to be on hold at about 9:10am. You just have to keep trying over and over. When you call it seems you either get through (you'll get a list of six options), a pre-recorded message that lasts about a minute (you can hang up as soon as you hear it), or just beeps as it fails to even connect.
When I got through there were 376 people in line ahead of me. You get an update every minute or so telling you how far the queue has progressed. It goes at about 30 people every 10 minutes (I made a note of the number/time every so often), so you can plan around that if you have other things to do. I got through after about 2 hours.
Agent answered and I explained I had upcoming travel (told them the date) and that I wanted to have my file transferred. They asked for my file number, which I did not yet have. Asked for the usual background information then put me on hold again while they reviewed the information. This second period of hold only took a couple minutes, and you got some different hold music to the stuff you'd been listening to for the previous two hours, so at least there's a bit of variety.
Agent came back and told me some information was missing from my guarantor. Unclear what information was missing, and I can't see anything on the form I missed, so not really sure why that would be the case. (Speculation: for brand new applications maybe they have to speak with the guarantor? Anyone have any insights on this?) They gave me a phone number for my guarantor to call to provide the missing information. I really hope for my guarantor's sake that they will not also have to spend hours on hold for this.
They were still able to request a transfer to my local office, although I assume my guarantor will need to call them before the local office will handle anything. They said it'd be $45 for express handling and "possibly some pick-up fees". They wanted to know the time of the flight, so have that on hand. They told me to expect a call from a blocked/private number either at the end of the week prior to my trip (so around June 17) or early the week of the trip. Usual spiel about no guarantees and that the local office may not even accept the transfer, etc. etc.
They didn't volunteer my file number, so I had to ask for it. I'd advise making a note to yourself to remember to ask for your file number if you don't already have it, in case you need it for a future call.
I made sure to explicitly clarify how the transfer process works given that they have my original citizenship certificate. They said it wasn't a problem and everything would be transferred over.
I didn't ask about what I'd need to bring to the local passport office (e.g., new forms, photos, etc.) - I figure I can ask the local office when they call me.
Now hoping my guarantor can get through to them quickly and then crossing fingers to hear back from the local office in a little over a week.
At some point each day I need to stop calling so I can either do my work/look after my baby/do groceries etc. I repeatedly call for over an hour some days same as you (3-4 seconds a call before hanging up). I've even got my repeat dial set up to skip past the language select. Never get through.
Thank you, this is very helpful! Can I ask where in Canada you are if you don’t mind?