Stamps on Passport - Help and Advice Sought

[brbr]

Hey All,

Thank you for any help or advice that you can provide in advance. I just went though my old and new passports and decided to basically make a spreadsheet noting all the entry/exit stamps I have on them to make the life of my CIC interviewee a bit easier down the road. However I did run into a BIT of an issue. I have a Bosnian passport (Bosnia & Herzegovina) and a Jordanian passport (Jordan). In Bosnia when they issue a new passport to replace an existing one they do NOT allow the applicant to keep the old passport especially if there is no valid reason for the applicant to keep it, i.e. valid visas, etc...

So now bear with me, I traveled back to Bosnia in 2011 and that summer when I was there I got a new passport as my old one was about to expire (the old one had the Bosnia entry stamp and date for that trip). So now my issue is that I don't have a stamp to prove when I entered Bosnia at the time :s but on my Jordanian passport I do have a stamp showing when I returned back to Canada from that Bosnia trip (I always use my Jordanian to re-enter Canada). Any ideas as to what I should do in this circumstance? I'm clueless and any help would be HIGHLY appreciated. Oh and I obviously did check the box for CIC to be able to pull my CBSA report... so maybe they recorded my departure from Canada back then? I HOPE! :-X

My apologies if this was by any means confusing!

 

[wsm_al]

Hey All,

Thank you for any help or advice that you can provide in advance. I just went though my old and new passports and decided to basically make a spreadsheet noting all the entry/exit stamps I have on them to make the life of my CIC interviewee a bit easier down the road. However I did run into a BIT of an issue. I have a Bosnian passport (Bosnia & Herzegovina) and a Jordanian passport (Jordan). In Bosnia when they issue a new passport to replace an existing one they do NOT allow the applicant to keep the old passport especially if there is no valid reason for the applicant to keep it, i.e. valid visas, etc...

So now bear with me, I traveled back to Bosnia in 2011 and that summer when I was there I got a new passport as my old one was about to expire (the old one had the Bosnia entry stamp and date for that trip). So now my issue is that I don't have a stamp to prove when I entered Bosnia at the time :s but on my Jordanian passport I do have a stamp showing when I returned back to Canada from that Bosnia trip (I always use my Jordanian to re-enter Canada). Any ideas as to what I should do in this circumstance? I'm clueless and any help would be HIGHLY appreciated. Oh and I obviously did check the box for CIC to be able to pull my CBSA report... so maybe they recorded my departure from Canada back then? I HOPE! :-X

My apologies if this was by any means confusing!

Hi brbr,
You had a good point to raise. I have not heard of any situation like that! The best option for you to get the correct answer is to call CIC call centre and they will advise you on what to do.

Just curious, can you get entry/exit records from your country that could show that you entered the country on which date?

 

[screech339]

Hey All,

Thank you for any help or advice that you can provide in advance. I just went though my old and new passports and decided to basically make a spreadsheet noting all the entry/exit stamps I have on them to make the life of my CIC interviewee a bit easier down the road. However I did run into a BIT of an issue. I have a Bosnian passport (Bosnia & Herzegovina) and a Jordanian passport (Jordan). In Bosnia when they issue a new passport to replace an existing one they do NOT allow the applicant to keep the old passport especially if there is no valid reason for the applicant to keep it, i.e. valid visas, etc...

So now bear with me, I traveled back to Bosnia in 2011 and that summer when I was there I got a new passport as my old one was about to expire (the old one had the Bosnia entry stamp and date for that trip). So now my issue is that I don't have a stamp to prove when I entered Bosnia at the time :s but on my Jordanian passport I do have a stamp showing when I returned back to Canada from that Bosnia trip (I always use my Jordanian to re-enter Canada). Any ideas as to what I should do in this circumstance? I'm clueless and any help would be HIGHLY appreciated. Oh and I obviously did check the box for CIC to be able to pull my CBSA report... so maybe they recorded my departure from Canada back then? I HOPE! :-X

My apologies if this was by any means confusing!

It is unlikely that you will get the exit record from Canada on way out to Bosnia. At the time Canada has only been recording entry records. My wife has a similar problem. She has no exit record from Canada and doesn't have an entry stamp into her country. Only the exit stamp which would correspond with the entry record into Canada. So no record stamp anywhere to prove she left Canada on a specific date except her email travel itinerary record confirmation, which I don't know if CIC will accept it or not. Maybe they will accept if itinerary confirm the matching of dates of her country exit stamp/Canada entry stamp.

 

[brbr]

It is unlikely that you will get the exit record from Canada on way out to Bosnia. At the time Canada has only been recording entry records. My wife has a similar problem. She has no exit record from Canada and doesn't have an entry stamp into her country. Only the exit stamp which would correspond with the entry record into Canada. So no record stamp anywhere to prove she left Canada on a specific date except her email travel itinerary record confirmation, which I don't know if CIC will accept it or not. Maybe they will accept if itinerary confirm the matching of dates of her country exit stamp/Canada entry stamp.

Hmmm thank you very much for your input screech! : Do you know if she attempted to contact CIC and inquire about it, or is it something that she will tackle once and if she is asked about it in the interview post-test? It's kinda of a peculiar situation... my issue is that I do not believe that I have my travel itinerary either for that trip as it was 3 years ago and clever me didn't have the foresight to think about all this stuff back then ???

 

[brbr]

Hi brbr,
You had a good point to raise. I have not heard of any situation like that! The best option for you to get the correct answer is to call CIC call centre and they will advise you on what to do.

Just curious, can you get entry/exit records from your country that could show that you entered the country on which date?

Hi wsm_al

Thank you very much for your input Pal, really appreciate it I might take up your advice and call CIC as you mentioned I will also look into your later suggestion about entry/exit records in Bosnia but I somewhat doubt that those are retrievable back there after all the country did go through civil war less than 20 years ago, doubt they'd be high-tech like that, but I guess you never know :-\ haha

 

[brbr]

Hmmmmm alright, just got off the phone with CIC, a very nice lady picked up, we talked through it and she said that quite often CIC faces the situation where an applicant doesn't have an old passport that falls in that 4 year period or that the applicant got a new passport in that period and their native country doesn't allow him or her to keep their old passport. She said not to worry too much about it, that if my residency days are eerily close to 1095 it MIGHT be an issue, so I told her that I applied with 1106 days and I did mention that when I traveled back in 2011 I was fully employed and took my allowable 3 week annual vacation in one fell swoop (and that's what I had put down as absence - 21 days in my residence calculator).

I also told her that I have my NOA from 2011 showing that I was working for Scotiabank and employed full-time (along with T4s), etc.. and she seemed to like that. She also suggested perhaps, down the road, to come to the test with a cover letter which I can hand to the CIC agent conducting the interview explaining that missing stamp on the old passport. It is also unreasonable to think that I would have my travel itinerary from 3 years ago, and she seemed to concur with that assessment.

 

[Oct13]

I travelled twice during my stay in Canada. On my first travel, I did not have an entry stamp on my passport. The officer was checking the stamps against my residence calculator, and when she did not find that particular one, I gave her the travel itinerary. I had my T4s and all employment papers, but she did not even want to look at them. She said that my case looks okay!

Try to contact the airlines for the itinerary, and all the best of luck.

 

[brbr]

I travelled twice during my stay in Canada. On my first travel, I did not have an entry stamp on my passport. The officer was checking the stamps against my residence calculator, and when she did not find that particular one, I gave her the travel itinerary. I had my T4s and all employment papers, but she did not even want to look at them. She said that my case looks okay!

Try to contact the airlines for the itinerary, and all the best of luck.

Thank you very much for your response Oct13 I am guessing the T4s and NOAs showing that I was employed full-time at the time will do, I've been out of Canada 3 times, twice on a 3 week annual vacation (2011 and 2013) and once to LA for 8 days in 2012. So it's not as if I've been travelling all the time all over the place Hopefully I'll receive the same treatment It's a single app and I got my PR under the CEC class

 

[screech339]

I submitted an ATIP to CBSA today. Just have to sit tight and wait 35 days to get it.

US Border stated on I-94 online travel history request stated that my wife entered US on October 6th but I know we entered US on the 5th and her US stamp says 5th.

Since Canada and US share exit/entry info, I wonder what date CBSA recorded in their system. Hence one of the reason for asking for travel info.

Other reason is to see if CSBA has received exit information from the airline my wife took. It would confirm if CBSA has begun to collect airline manifest or not at the time of my wife's flight.

One way to find out is to get the travel records from CBSA.

On another note: I have sent a request to the airline for an official letter of statement of confirmation that my wife flew on the dates.

just have to wait and see how it all turns out.

Screech339

 

[.Steve]

I appeared for the test today and passed the test.


Had problems with interview....
1. After landing in Canada by road, our return stamp in USA was not on the passport from 2011.
2. Also on one day trip across the border from buffalo in 2015 was not stamped on passport.

Officer said he will mail details requesting for something.....what could that mean ?

How will I be able to prove those trips?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[PVN]

I appeared for the test today and passed the test.


Had problems with interview....
1. After landing in Canada by road, our return stamp in USA was not on the passport from 2011.
2. Also on one day trip across the border from buffalo in 2015 was not stamped on passport.

Officer said he will mail details requesting for something.....what could that mean ?

How will I be able to prove those trips?

Thanks,
Steve

Hi Steve, do you know whether the above information is missing in CBSA report? Did the officer has the CBSA report while interviewing you? If the information is missing in CBSA report, you can get the following documents:

1. You can show payslips which could prove that you were in Canada

2. You can show bank statements/credit card which would also prove your presence in Canada.

3. Get the I94 report from https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home. This report may be incomplete sometimes.

4. Provide OHIP report which could also prove your presence

I showed my air tickets and bank statements to prove my presence as some of the stamps were missing in my passport and CBSA report was incomplete.

Seniors, please add your comments if I am missing anything.

Hope this helps!

 

[.Steve]

Thank you PVN for your quick response.

I am not for sure if he had CBSA report.
What he said is that the following entry stamps in USA are missing on your passport.

1. Returning after landing in 2011, the USA side stamp was missing.
2. One day trip across the border at Buffalo, the USA side entry was missing on passport

I can see the one day buffalo trip on online I-94 tool, but the 2011 entry does not show up as it is older than 5 year I suppose.

The officer told me that he would send something in mail requesting for something and I was totally at loss of words as I was shaken. Least expected this and was not sure not to ask....
I politely came back from the interview......

Thanks,
Steve

 

[PVN]

Thank you PVN for your quick response.

I am not for sure if he had CBSA report.
What he said is that the following entry stamps in USA are missing on your passport.

1. Returning after landing in 2011, the USA side stamp was missing.
2. One day trip across the border at Buffalo, the USA side entry was missing on passport

I can see the one day buffalo trip on online I-94 tool, but the 2011 entry does not show up as it is older than 5 year I suppose.

The officer told me that he would send something in mail requesting for something and I was totally at loss of words as I was shaken. Least expected this and was not sure not to ask....
I politely came back from the interview......

Thanks,
Steve

In my case, the officer had CBSA report. But I have read cases where the officer didn't have CBSA report and told the applicants that they would request one, since it would be easier for them to get a copy from CBSA.

 

[.Steve]

In my case, the officer had CBSA report. But I have read cases where the officer didn't have CBSA report and told the applicants that they would request one, since it would be easier for them to get a copy from CBSA.

Does the CBSA report have entries in the US / exit from Canada ?
That is where I am confused, he did not give me any thing , just told me he will mail request.....

 

[Richie888]

Does the CBSA report have entries in the US / exit from Canada ?
That is where I am confused, he did not give me any thing , just told me he will mail request.....

Hi Steve,
CBSA has only entry recorded.
And since I94 history doesn't go further than previous 5 years, my advice to you is to be ready for a residence questionnaire. That means start gathering all pieces of evidence showing undoubtedly you were here for all the period you claimed to be. Especially during 2011. I believe you can also get in touch with US customs explain your situation and try to get a report for those dates. Nothing to loose anyway.
Good luck.