Travel with Children - Child left Canada with Canadian Passport, but expired!

My son left Canada with a Canadian passport to see his dad abroad, but it expired. Applying for a canadian passport abroad is time consuming and is a hassle. However, he does have a foreign passport. Is it OK for him to enter Canada with his foreign passport? Is there a record that he left Canada and that he had to return Canada with his Canadian passport? I just thought it might be easier to enter Canada with a foreign passport and reapply a new one for him while he's in Canada.

:confused:

I've heard that, in contrast to the U.S., you can. Don't take my word for it and contact Canadian Immigration.

Thanks!

My son left Canada with a Canadian passport to see his dad abroad, but it expired. Applying for a canadian passport abroad is time consuming and is a hassle. However, he does have a foreign passport. Is it OK for him to enter Canada with his foreign passport? Is there a record that he left Canada and that he had to return Canada with his Canadian passport? I just thought it might be easier to enter Canada with a foreign passport and reapply a new one for him while he's in Canada.

:confused:

I'd ask why you didn't take care of this before he left the country, but it's a moot point now.

Yes, your son could have problems returning to Canada with a foreign passport.

Canadian citizens returning to Canada who present other documents, such as a Certificate of Canadian Citizenship, birth certificate, provincial driver’s license, or foreign passport, instead of a Canadian passport, may face delays or be denied boarding by transport companies.

Suggest he renew his Canadian passport abroad. It may be a hassle, but it's going to be a bigger hassle if he's denied boarding for his return.


Read http://www.voyage.gc.ca/abroad_a-letranger/return-canada-retour-enghere:

It might make more sense to contact the Canadian Embassy, High Commission or Consulate while abroad. The logic is that they would have more experience with these matters than any local authorities.

Plus the point that the child is already over there. If he does need to do this, be ready to send over any paperwork needed.

Good luck!

I had to deal with this once entering Australia (lost passport en-route, but after doc check).

(a) It's not legal to enter Australia or the U.S. (and I suspect Canada as well), if you are a citizen, with the passport of another country. Not to mention you would need a visa entitling you to be a permanent resident.

(b) Australian immigration let me in - in fact, they have to let a citizen in, regardless of documentation - they used another means to identify me.

(c) Your biggest issue will be the doc check. No competent airline is going to let a minor fly with an expired passport.

Contact the embassy or consul in the country where your child is.

This child has another passport. I assume that one's not expired and was good to leave Canada. The issue is, can the child return to Canada with the foreign passport or not. This came up on another forum and the Canadians were quick to point out that they don't have the same rules and that some even claimed to have done just this.

U.S. Immigration is strict. I know a family who spent 3 hours being interrogated because of their adopted child's passport (long story). But Canada is not America and when I got my French citizenship, the U.S. Consulate made it clear that I was not to use anything but my U.S. passport to go back there.

Technically, I'm supposed to enter the E.U. with my French passport. I did get a scolding from a German immigration officer once but he let me through. I would hand them my French nationality card and my U.S. passport but honestly, I think they didn't really look (the residency and citizen cards are almost identical). So while this rule does exist elsewhere, often they're just not as strict about enforcing it.

I did finally get around to renewing my very expired French passport, so now I'm Kosher!

Am I missing something here? :confused: There is an obvious solution:

Book the flight with the valid foreign passport, depart the current country with the foreign passport, then on arrival in Canada show the expired Canadian passport at immigration. While expired, it's incontrovertible proof of citizenship and they'll let him in, although there may be a bit of hassle with verification.

See also: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-canada-aeroplan/573278-ot-entering-canada-expired-cdn-passport.html

Book the flight with the valid foreign passport, depart the current country with the foreign passport, then on arrival in Canada show the expired Canadian passport at immigration. While expired, it's incontrovertible proof of citizenship and they'll let him in, although there may be a bit of hassle with verification.

Not "incontrovertible". Existence of a genuine Canadian passport shows that the person depicted was a Canadian citizen but does not show whether the person might have naturalized in some other country in the meantime.

But this is not unique problem to expired passports - certainly citizens might naturalize elsewhere while possessing an unexpired passport. Does Canada effectually collect passports of ex-citizens? The ex-citizen might claim to have lost the passport, then find or "find" it.

Not "incontrovertible". Existence of a genuine Canadian passport shows that the person depicted was a Canadian citizen but does not show whether the person might have naturalized in some other country in the meantime.
Canada couldn't care less if the person has naturalized in some other country in the meantime, since they permit multiple citizenships. If you're talking about a renunciation of Canadian citizenship, this can be done entirely through mail and does not require surrendering one's passport. (Of course, at the border Immigration can trivially determine from their systems whether or not you are still a citizen, regardless of whether the passport is expired or not.)

Summa summarum: If you hold a Canadian passport, even an expired one, and are on the books as a Canadian citizen, you will be let back into Canada.