Speaking as someone who can (and has) act(ed) as a guarantor for Canadian passports, I actually know the answer to your question.
It's a matter of how easily traceable the guarantor is, that is, the gummint of Canada needs to be able to confirm that the guarantor is who you/he sez s/he is. They DO call back to confirm the application -- I'd say it's about once in three for the applications I've signed, but the proportion may have gone up since September of 2001.
The US Consulate on University Avenue in Toronto is pretty easy to pick out -- it's where there are decorative concrete planters on the sidewalk stopping anything larger than a bicycle from passing along (well, maybe a wheelchair). Back in a previous incarnation (1980, before Regan's assassination attempt even, and certainly before the current crop of embassy bombings) one of my tasks was to drive in to Toronto (from Cambridge ON) to do some paperwork about a passport / visa to the US for one of the clients. Immediately inside the front door I explained to a security guard (a Canadian) why I was there, and he said I needed to go to Room 23 (or whatever) along to the right - so I went there, and he buzzed the door open for me. This was a big waiting room, with clerks like bank tellers at one end - you took a number (just like a the delicatessen counter) and waited until called. 20 min later, I was up at one of the clerks, looking at her through 5cm bulletproof transparent stuff, handing papers through a double-sided drawer, talking into a microphone. (and if you wanted to go to the loo while waiting, the door had to be buzzed open again by front door security. This was 26y ago, I'm sure the security is greater now. And the only person I actually saw up close enough to breathe the same air was the Canadian security guard.
To answer Robert's question -- one of the things the guarantor is signing about is saying yes, this photo does look like the person applying. So yes, you need a guarantor each time you apply.
[(back of hand to forehad) I said I could sign your passport application for you but did you listen? No! But I'm fine, really, just fine. Don't mind me. I'll just sit here in the corner up here in the frozen northland, you don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine, really]
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Date: 2006-01-21 05:46 am (UTC)It's a matter of how easily traceable the guarantor is, that is, the gummint of Canada needs to be able to confirm that the guarantor is who you/he sez s/he is. They DO call back to confirm the application -- I'd say it's about once in three for the applications I've signed, but the proportion may have gone up since September of 2001.
The US Consulate on University Avenue in Toronto is pretty easy to pick out -- it's where there are decorative concrete planters on the sidewalk stopping anything larger than a bicycle from passing along (well, maybe a wheelchair). Back in a previous incarnation (1980, before Regan's assassination attempt even, and certainly before the current crop of embassy bombings) one of my tasks was to drive in to Toronto (from Cambridge ON) to do some paperwork about a passport / visa to the US for one of the clients. Immediately inside the front door I explained to a security guard (a Canadian) why I was there, and he said I needed to go to Room 23 (or whatever) along to the right - so I went there, and he buzzed the door open for me. This was a big waiting room, with clerks like bank tellers at one end - you took a number (just like a the delicatessen counter) and waited until called. 20 min later, I was up at one of the clerks, looking at her through 5cm bulletproof transparent stuff, handing papers through a double-sided drawer, talking into a microphone. (and if you wanted to go to the loo while waiting, the door had to be buzzed open again by front door security. This was 26y ago, I'm sure the security is greater now. And the only person I actually saw up close enough to breathe the same air was the Canadian security guard.
To answer Robert's question -- one of the things the guarantor is signing about is saying yes, this photo does look like the person applying. So yes, you need a guarantor each time you apply.
[(back of hand to forehad) I said I could sign your passport application for you but did you listen? No! But I'm fine, really, just fine. Don't mind me. I'll just sit here in the corner up here in the frozen northland, you don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine, really]