First time passport, Birth Cert NEEDED?

[Thaco]

Hey all, i want to go traveling first week in July, problem is, i dont have a birth cert, I know i have it, but i cant find it, i used it about a year ago when i drove down to the US, but i cant located it now.



Will i be able to get my passport if i go to the passport office? i have a ton of other ID, SIN, ABHC, cc's, baptism certificate... tons of stuff... will they NEED a birth certificate?



Secondly, my wife read in some documentation online that states if your child was born before your marriage that you need the long version of his birth certificate, i dont have this, i only have the short version...




I know i should call the passport office for accurate answers, but they are not open today and i was planning to go get the passport photos this evening, but i don't want to waste my time and money if i am not going to have even the slightest chance of getting my passport.

[Amysicle]

How old is your child? I found this on the child thing:

Birth certificate for children under 16 years of age
To avoid possible delays, we strongly recommend that you provide a long-form birth certificate showing information on both parents.http://www.ppt.gc.ca/cdn/section4.aspx?lang=eng&region=Canada


Edit: Saw you put first time passport. I'm not sure what your options are at this point but it looks like, yes you will need your birth certificate. The other documents that you listed in your possession would be your proof of identity, but not citizenship.

Important message regarding proof of citizenship requirements for Canadian passport applications
Canadians wishing to apply for a passport should be aware that, unless they are applying for a passport through the Simplified Passport Renewal Process*, passport applications should be submitted with proof of citizenship (such as a Canadian birth certificate or citizenship certificate). If an application is submitted without proof of citizenship, there is no guarantee that it will be processed. Please note that the passport application fee will not be refunded.

To find out how to obtain a Canadian citizenship certificate, visit Citizenship and Immigration Canada's website.

For information on obtaining a Canadian provincial or territorial birth certificate, visit the Service Canada's website.

* Please note that the Simplified Passport Renewal Process in not available for Canadians applying abroad. http://www.ppt.gc.ca/articles/20090505.aspx?lang=eng

Good luck.

[stellerGT]

^^ Beat me to it

Heres the form to get your passport, it says you need either your birth certificate, or your certificate of canadian citizenship.

http://www.pptc.gc.ca/form/pdfs/pptc153.pdf

[Thaco]

Ok, so, i just found my birth cert, after searching for 3 days, it was almost glued to the back of one of the other cards in my wallet, but i still need to know the second question, my son is almost 7.

we did give him my last name at birth, which was about 3 years before we got married

[Amysicle]

*Ahem*

How old is your child? I found this on the child thing:

Birth certificate for children under 16 years of age
To avoid possible delays, we strongly recommend that you provide a long-form birth certificate showing information on both parents.

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/cdn/section4.aspx?lang=eng&region=Canada

It looks like you can give it a try with the short version but the Government and Dannie recommend using the long version.

[dannie]

You will require your birth certificate to obtain your passport. For your child, if he was born outside of wedlock, then you will require the birth certificate showing parentage. If the kid was born in Alberta, you just have to go to the registry and order it.

** I have seen the passport office turn away applications for childrens birth certificates if the certificate is not the long form.... just a warning

Edit: Your birth cerificate cannot be laminated, defaced, torn etc.

[Thaco]

Thanks for the info, we're gonna give it a shot tomorrow and see how things go... we really do not have time (and no desire to spend $80 on getting a Birth Certificate "rushed" for our son), so i really hope they make an exception, given that all 3 of us are native Calgarians. (not sure if that makes a difference, but it cant hurt.)


we have travel planned for July 5th, so i really doubt we'd have time to get a birth certificate AND our passports.

[dannie]

Assuming that you have a travel itinerary, you would have time to do both.

The birth Certificate can be rushed (if the kid was born in Alberta) in 3-4 business days, depending on what time of day you go to the registry to order. For example, if you go into the registry tomorrow before 11am, it should get to the registry by Wednesday afternoon. If you go after 11am, it will be Thursday. Cost to rush a birth certificate is $48 (price varies depending on registry, but I certainly wouldnt pay $80 to get a rush certificate).

From there, you go to the passport office and they do have a rush service for the passports. 24-48hrs if you have a confirmation of travel that you can produce.

If you are heading to the passport office tomorrow, go to the South office on Bannister Road. I find the staff there quite a bit easier to deal with than the office at Harry Hays.

[Thaco]

yeah i intend to go to the south office, but i really am not going to pay for the $80 rush fee on both the birth certificate, or the passports.

i think i'm just gonna go there and hope for the best, i have not booked the flight yet because i dont want to waste the cash if they deny me for the simple technicality.

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by Thaco
so i really hope they make an exception

No offence, but that's the dumbest thing I've read today. This is govn't we're talking about.

[97'Scort]

What happens when they do the background check and google pops up that you "suck off little boys"?;)

[Thaco]

Originally posted by 2EFNFAST


No offence, but that's the dumbest thing I've read today. This is govn't we're talking about.


the govt makes exceptions for all kinds of things all the time.

[Thaco]

i just called and they basically said that the long BC is required, no exceptions, so i went and ordered that on a rush, hopefully i still have time, thanks for the info.

[dannie]

^ You will be fine.

[Thaco]

i hope so, i am gonna go there today without the long form of the BC, i have the receipt and a copy of the applications, stamped as verified and stuff from the registry, i am hoping that will be enough for us to get it started and if they need the actual BC later i can get it to them.

[dannie]

I assume you have a piece of paper that has the kids information and yours, it has a SR and a number on the top left, and the registry stamped it.

If that is the form you have, they wont take it. Essentially that just says it has been ordered. In all the time I have been dealing with the passport office, they only accepted that paper once. And, it was a rather bizarre circumstance.

I personally wouldnt waste my time going down there. They wont take it.

[Thaco]

it's either go down there and try, or spend $100+ getting the passports rushed... i need them before the 2nd.


I am just gonna go ask, we have all the docs for myself and my wife, so that wont be a problem, we'll at least get those rolling. That way if they deny us for our son (which i fully expect) then we can put a rush on only his when we get the birth certificate Wednesday we can put his though on the 2-9 day rush, and then it'll only cost us 1 rush and they will hopefully all be ready at the same time.



EDIT: ok, i wanted to update this, but didn't want to bump it up as it's really not important.... i went to the passport office last night, they denied me on my son, but they confirmed that mine and my wife's passports would be abailable on June 29th at 8:30 Am at th e harry hays building, and if i brought in my son's stuff today or tomorrow (whenever it becomes available) that if i bring it in tomorrow it'll be ready on the 2nd of July, which would be just in time for our trip, now i just really hope the registries and alberta govt dont screw up the BC, and i hope the passport offices dont screw up the passports, otherwise, i have to try to sell my vacation within like 3 days and i wasted all this time, money and effort for nothing.