March 10th: U.S. passport day with same-day passport renewal :-)

[ddobro2]

Flyer: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/canada/303578/consular/2012passportday.jpg

On March 10th, the Vermont Passport Agency will be offering the chance for American citizens to receive full validity passports with same day service without the additional extradite fee. The US Consulate General Montreal wants to advertise this opportunity to as many American citizens as possible. Should you need to renew your passport and would prefer to get it the same day this Passport Day is for you. Normally you have to wait 2 weeks to receive it when you apply at the Consulate.

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

Where is there more info on this so I can see where to go and what to bring with me? Thanks!

 

[ddobro2]

Yeah, it's pretty limited info. The flyer is linked to this page on services of the Montreal consulate: http://montreal.usconsulate.gov/service.html. I'm a bit miffed that this didn't take place last week instead because I just landed and we had to rent a car for the occasion. So if the passport renewal is only at St. Albans, VT like I presume, I don't know if we're going to rent a car again just to do that.

Where is there more info on this so I can see where to go and what to bring with me? Thanks!

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

I'm going to have to email for more info to find out if it is worth the trip. I was just at the border yesterday, and the U.S. border guard suggested I go to the U.S. Post Office 2 minutes away and apply for my passport renewal there. I wonder what the benefit is if you go to St. Alban's. Do you get your passport the same day?

 

[ddobro2]

Yeah, exactly. I don't know about if you HAVE to go to St. Albans but like I put in the original post the Passport Day is for same-day passports whereas normally it takes 2 weeks. I just emailed the Montreal U.S. consulate as well.

I'm going to have to email for more info to find out if it is worth the trip. I was just at the border yesterday, and the U.S. border guard suggested I go to the U.S. Post Office 2 minutes away and apply for my passport renewal there. I wonder what the benefit is if you go to St. Alban's. Do you get your passport the same day?

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

Let me know what they say. Also, I meant to mention that the U.S. border guard strongly suggested getting the passport card along with my renewed passport. He said the card is the size of a credit card, and they recognize it the same as a passport. I figure for $20 it's worth it to carry with me instead of my full passport when going to and from the U.S.

 

[ddobro2]

Okay, will do. I originally found out through an email from my school's international students office, by the way (which has since a few days ago changed my status so now I get to pay 4x less in tuition, yay). I didn't realize the passport card was only $20, I thought it would be $60 for some reason. I'll have to think about it though. Between the passport card, the SIN card, and the PR card (plus renewing a passport) that's a lot of cards to be dealing with (by the way, I don't know if you had the same thing happen, but my border agent stressed taking that COPR out of my passport and putting it into a safe or a security box in a bank because it's going to be REALLY hard to prove when you got here and hence to start collecting pension under the Quebec pension plan, I think it was, if I recall correctly...).

Let me know what they say. Also, I meant to mention that the U.S. border guard strongly suggested getting the passport card along with my renewed passport. He said the card is the size of a credit card, and they recognize it the same as a passport. I figure for $20 it's worth it to carry with me instead of my full passport when going to and from the U.S.

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

He told me to leave it in the passport until my PR card came, then to put it in a safe & secure place. To be quite honest though, why would you have to show that again decades from now to prove when you got to Canada? I only ask, because that information was already given (and accepted as proof) when I applied for and received my SIN. Obviously I'm not going to throw my COPR away, but at the same time I am highly suspicious that in 40 yrs the government is going to suddenly not believe that I landed as a PR on the day they've had listed all this time along with my SIN. Then again, if SIN is handled by the same people at Buffalo that handled our PR apps then he's right to counsel us to guard our COPRs!

 

[ddobro2]

It turns out the free same-day service is only for in-U.S. applicants. The passport card is actually $30. I am so tempted to just renew my passport via the card without getting a new passport book.....if that's possible. $110 is a lot of money.

This was the response I got:

"Passport Day at the St Albans agency will be held on March 10 at our facility on South Main Street. During this time we will accept applications for routine processing and we will not charge the $60 expedite fee.

Should anyone from Canada choose to come down on Passport Day we will need to charge the $60 fee so that we can give them actual “same day” services. This will be done in order to ensure that they have means by which to cross back over the border on the same day.

While I understand that traveling here might be inconvenient for you, you can still have your passport renewed by utilizing the services provided by the consulate in Montreal. More information on how to utilize these services can be found at the following link: http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/outside/outside_5462.html

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask."

Let me know what they say. Also, I meant to mention that the U.S. border guard strongly suggested getting the passport card along with my renewed passport. He said the card is the size of a credit card, and they recognize it the same as a passport. I figure for $20 it's worth it to carry with me instead of my full passport when going to and from the U.S.

 

[ddobro2]

I don't know what the answer is exactly, but apparently they do not go by the fact that you presented the COPR at the time of getting the SIN or perhaps they don't make a note of the exact date of landing when you visit Service Canada. I really don't know. But my border agent seemed to stress that it's not so much that you have the proof of landing as what day that landing was. And the reason for that is apparently so the provincial pension fund in Quebec will know how to calculate your pension based on the first day you were eligible for it, i.e. the day you landed. Why they require this informtion from the COPR-holder via the form and cannot get this date from CBSA I have no idea. I even asked my border guard about the ATIP office's Application for a Certified True Copy, Correction or Replacement of an Immigration Document (IMM 5545) form in the event that something happened to the COPR and she told me something to the effect of....making that request will not get you the original COPR and it is the original COPR that Quebec will ask you for when you seek to claim your pension. She said that the only option in case of something happening to the original record of landing was getting the office in Sydney (same one that processed citizenship applications) to go into the records, and stressed that will be an extremely long wait.

He told me to leave it in the passport until my PR card came, then to put it in a safe & secure place. To be quite honest though, why would you have to show that again decades from now to prove when you got to Canada? I only ask, because that information was already given (and accepted as proof) when I applied for and received my SIN. Obviously I'm not going to throw my COPR away, but at the same time I am highly suspicious that in 40 yrs the government is going to suddenly not believe that I landed as a PR on the day they've had listed all this time along with my SIN. Then again, if SIN is handled by the same people at Buffalo that handled our PR apps then he's right to counsel us to guard our COPRs!

 

[AllisonVSC]

Between the passport card, the SIN card, and the PR card (plus renewing a passport) that's a lot of cards to be dealing with (by the way, I don't know if you had the same thing happen, but my border agent stressed taking that COPR out of my passport and putting it into a safe or a security box in a bank because it's going to be REALLY hard to prove when you got here and hence to start collecting pension under the Quebec pension plan, I think it was, if I recall correctly...).

Definitely don't need to be walking around with your SIN card. Put it in a safe place and just use it when you need it.

Also, the COPR is needed for a variety of things later on like...

1. renewing your PR card. It is one of the options for secondary pieces of identification. And by the way, you need the passport you used when landing even if it is expired! so save those too.

2. applying for citizenship. You need your record of Landing (Imm 1000) OR you need both your COPR and PR card as primary documents and then you need identity documents too.

I keep my PR card clipped to the back page of my passport, because when I need one I need the other. The COPR and SIN are stored in a safe place and I do not ever carry them with me.

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

I don't know what the answer is exactly, but apparently they do not go by the fact that you presented the COPR at the time of getting the SIN or perhaps they don't make a note of the exact date of landing when you visit Service Canada. I really don't know. But my border agent seemed to stress that it's not so much that you have the proof of landing as what day that landing was. And the reason for that is apparently so the provincial pension fund in Quebec will know how to calculate your pension based on the first day you were eligible for it, i.e. the day you landed. Why they require this informtion from the COPR-holder via the form and cannot get this date from CBSA I have no idea. I even asked my border guard about the ATIP office's Application for a Certified True Copy, Correction or Replacement of an Immigration Document (IMM 5545) form in the event that something happened to the COPR and she told me something to the effect of....making that request will not get you the original COPR and it is the original COPR that Quebec will ask you for when you seek to claim your pension. She said that the only option in case of something happening to the original record of landing was getting the office in Sydney (same one that processed citizenship applications) to go into the records, and stressed that will be an extremely long wait.

I just got off the phone with the RRQ (they manage the Quebec pension plan). The woman I spoke with updated my address and phone number to go with my social insurance number, but said they had no need to see any of my immigration paperwork. She said once I start working and my employer starts withholdings for the pension plan I will get a yearly update on what I've contributed (like social security in the U.S.), but other than making sure my employer has my SIN and double checking my yearly updates there is nothing more for me to do to be eligible for the pension plan at 65. I plan on keeping my COPR anyway (you do need that or your permanent resident card to get government child support payments, etc.) in a safe place for the future.

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

It turns out the free same-day service is only for in-U.S. applicants. The passport card is actually $30. I am so tempted to just renew my passport via the card without getting a new passport book.....if that's possible. $110 is a lot of money.

This was the response I got:

"Passport Day at the St Albans agency will be held on March 10 at our facility on South Main Street. During this time we will accept applications for routine processing and we will not charge the $60 expedite fee.

Should anyone from Canada choose to come down on Passport Day we will need to charge the $60 fee so that we can give them actual “same day” services. This will be done in order to ensure that they have means by which to cross back over the border on the same day.

While I understand that traveling here might be inconvenient for you, you can still have your passport renewed by utilizing the services provided by the consulate in Montreal. More information on how to utilize these services can be found at the following link: http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/outside/outside_5462.html

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask."

I have to look into which will work out best for me. If it's cheaper than I'll probably just go through the Montreal office, even if it takes a few weeks. I was told that crossing the border back into the U.S. would be no problem even without my passport if I bring a copy of the data page, my birth certificate and driver's license with me.

 

[ddobro2]

Yep, I don't plan on having my SIN card on my person at all times. Just a matter of memorizing the number like I do my U.S. social security number!

The difference between using the COPR for the purposes of the provincial pension fund and the COPR for getting a new PR card or applying for citizenship is that for the new PR card, it's a secondary document, as you noted, and they only need a photocopy of it. Even for secondary documents though, they will still accept a copy of your valid provincial driver's licence, a provincial photo-identity card/a university or college student card, or a copy of your most recent Income Tax Assessment issued by Canada Revenue Agency. For citizenship, it's true that the COPR is one of the documents required, but again, it's only a photocopy and the application even says, "If this document is no longer in your possession, provide an explanation letter."

By the way, the IMM 1000 was discontinued in 2002 and the COPR (IMM 5292) is the new record of landing for everyone landing since then.

So I guess my point would be, it's easy to scan the COPR and have it electronically in various places and to have the photocopies of the COPR as well. But the difference to me seems to be that Quebec will ONLY accept the original COPR for the purposes of its pension fund (again, according to what my border agent said, but she was really stressing it). When only the original will do, that makes me nervous. Still haven't decided whether I'll go the security box route though.

Definitely don't need to be walking around with your SIN card. Put it in a safe place and just use it when you need it.

Also, the COPR is needed for a variety of things later on like...

1. renewing your PR card. It is one of the options for secondary pieces of identification. And by the way, you need the passport you used when landing even if it is expired! so save those too.

2. applying for citizenship. You need your record of Landing (Imm 1000) OR you need both your COPR and PR card as primary documents and then you need identity documents too.

I keep my PR card clipped to the back page of my passport, because when I need one I need the other. The COPR and SIN are stored in a safe place and I do not ever carry them with me.

 

[ddobro2]

Hmn, I wonder why my border agent was so adamant about it.

I just got off the phone with the RRQ (they manage the Quebec pension plan). The woman I spoke with updated my address and phone number to go with my social insurance number, but said they had no need to see any of my immigration paperwork. She said once I start working and my employer starts withholdings for the pension plan I will get a yearly update on what I've contributed (like social security in the U.S.), but other than making sure my employer has my SIN and double checking my yearly updates there is nothing more for me to do to be eligible for the pension plan at 65. I plan on keeping my COPR anyway (you do need that or your permanent resident card to get government child support payments, etc.) in a safe place for the future.