Capitulation

[bjarvis]

I've given up searching for my passport and green card.

I've ransacked the entire house at least twice, I've checked every pocket, every suitcase, every travel bag, every stack of papers, every file folder, every file cabinet and all the spaces in between. I found nothing.

Having given up hope of locating the documents, I'm now working on replacing them. I've just completed an e-filed application for replacement of my green card ($290 filing fee + $80 biometrics fee); hopefully, since it's just a replacement for a lost card, the processing will be relatively swift and I will be contacted soon by the appropriate office for an appointment to confirm my documentation and authorize a replacement.

The replacement of the passport will take much longer. Even if I submit a request for a replacement passport immediately, the scuttlebutt is that the turn-around time from gov't of Canada is four months as the US border rules have created an enormous demand for passports to travel across the border. To obtain a replacement passport, I'll have to go visit the local embassy for the forms, then get new photos and signatures by a guarantor. In short, it'll take at least a week for me to get my part of the process lined up.

On the good side, my planned travel is currently all US domestic so the passport isn't essential yet.

Comments

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

Do you need to report them lost or anything in case they were stolen?

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Not the green card; I'm still checking about the passport.

[brunorepublic.livejournal.com]

Ouch, that SUCKS!! And to think of how I was freaking out when I'd lost my birth certificate on the way to the passport office....

You probably already know this, but they have very recently made some changes to the renewal process to make things easier. I don't know if that helps you or not though.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I heard about the changes but I'm not eligible since I'm (a) reporting my previous passport as missing, and (b) wasn't a resident of Canada when that particular passport was issued. I'll be standing in the slow-moving line. *sigh*

[globespan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately this is not a renewal situation, it's a replacement :(

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you realise that just as soon as both documents are reissued (and I hope that will be soon), you will find both the Green Card and your old passport. This is an Immutable Law of the Universe.

In my case, when I was naturalised a British Citizen, I had to send my US passport off to the Home Office so that they could satisfy themselves that I was me. Unfortunately, they tried to return it by second-class post. It was lost, although I suspect that some minion in their mailroom nicked it since it was both a US passport and had an Indefinite Leave to Remain visa in it, thus quite valuable in the US and the UK. I went to the US Embassy here to report it missing, and got quite a bit of guff from the clerk, who was British. Why did I post it? Have you put a trace on it (likely to succeed with 2nd class, not)? I ended up getting a passport good for one year only, and I had to do the whole thing over again the next year, with questions. Has it turned up in the post? (No, fool!) They then extended it for 9 years. Every time I travel on it (only to the US nowadays) the airline check in person and the US immigration people have to leaf through it to discover that it is good until 2010.

Good luck in confronting the bureaucracy.

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

Given your recent whingeing about the advancing years, and "oh I'm over 40 life is coming to an end" blether, maybe your native land's government is moving to help you. with any luck this will soon kick in and you won't need to worry.

maybe if you were to grow your hair in a bit, and bleach it grey, they might believe you're a Canajun senior, and not need any passport. Easier than pretending to be aboriginal, I suspect.

in all seriousness, good luck with the bureacracy

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for the old documents to spontaneously appear in the center of, say, the dining room table. While I'm still annoyed the documents vanished, I'm currently more curious about where on earth they could possibly be hiding.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

DANG that's expensive!

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's primarily why I kept searching rather than order an immediate replacement. And it will be another $100 or so for the passport replacement.