rehoult

Oops. That'll make EYW harder.

canadiancow

Haha.

Luckily I can't recall the last time I was asked for a passport on a TB itinerary. But I definitely need to deal with this. Maybe a day-trip to YVR.

It looks like I can't even use the damn renewal form. I need to start from scratch.

Sigh.

Jumper Jack

Condolences, sucks that local consulate doesn't help when it comes to things like this

eigenvector

How bad is it? I've been successful at "renewing" a water-damaged passport before (even though officially you aren't allowed to do this). It was completely submerged and all the stamps washed out or bled. It actually looked sort of OK after drying out though, I even traveled a few more times with it before renewing.

canadiancow

I'll take a few photos later, but even my photo has some water bleed in it.

I need to look through the difference between renewal and replacement, but I suppose I could just come with both sets of forms, and give them whichever one they'll accept. Though not needing a guarantor means I could do it more easily.

Sounds like I may take a two-day trip up to YYC for this.

What a PITA.

jc94

That sucks. I don't have any experience with this on Canadian passports, I do know YMMV with US customs agents on damaged passports where some care and some don't though.
Do you not have a RFID wallet? Or did it leak through that too.

24left

Someone posted some time ago in another thread about water-damaged passports and mentioned they use these. I can tell you it saved mine from more than one downpour in Singapore.

canadiancow

Mine is fairly seriously damaged. It's not "a drop of water". US agents never even want to see my passport, but I'd rather deal with it now than have to fight with them when they finally ask.

I do not have an RFID wallet. I'm definitely looking into what I can buy though

The main issue is I forgot my passport was in this bag. It usually isn't.

That's a little too low-tech for me

ffsim

Ever since I started using an iPad Pro as my sole travel machine, I've been taking a much smaller bag onboard which means no room for my Bose headphones. You know what surprised me? How much I didn't miss the bulk of carrying those things around! I use a pair of Sony noise-isolating earbuds and I've got to say, I'm pretty happy with the tradeoff. They definitely don't offer the same sound quality or noise reduction as my Bose, but they literally fit in a 3-inch-square pouch. Oddly liberating.

Ouch, what a headache... I was going to suggest heading over to the Canadian consulate in San Fransisco, but it seems they don't produce passports. However, they do suggest contacting the "Canadian Citizen Services Contact Centre for Canadians in the U.S." if you need a passport urgently. Maybe they can offer some guidance.

I've carried my passports in an RFID sleeve for the past few years and wanted to pick up a nicer, more functional passport wallet / holder / sleeve with room for credit cards and whatnot. My research led me to believe that RFID protection for a passport might be somewhat overkill. Apparently some passports need to physically be open in order to read the data contained on the chip, and the data is highly encrypted so it's of little to no use to anyone who can actually read it.

I'm not suggesting any of the above is true or accurate, but I just wanted to share that I'm super thrilled with my new, non-RFID blocking Bellroy passport sleeve

eigenvector

I use this religiously (it's great that you can fold the edges of the bag so it doesn't take up any more room than the passport would ordinarily), but it turns out they get invisible pinholes at the corners if you use the same one for a while... as I discovered after a downpour in Haifa. I posted a photo earlier: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29254705-post81.html

I've now upgraded to this although it's a little bulky: https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5003-652/Pocket-Dry-Bag

These are good too and I usually use them for documents or my phone when I'm camping: https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5060-5...-4x7-%282pk%29

Note that despite the damage in the photo linked above, I've successfully traveled with this passport to six countries (all in South America) and not a word was said about it, although the officer at EZE did take my passport into another room before returning a few minutes later (I suspect it was because they don't have chip readers at every immigration kiosk). The only comment I had about it was actually during a jet-bridge passport check when returning to Canada at YYZ. The officer remarked that the photo is compromised and Passport Canada would deem it unusable, but that nowadays they only scrutinize the actual ID page if the chip is unreadable for some reason.

canadiancow

I don't need it "urgently". I just can't risk mailing it in and waiting 20 business days. I have a friend who did that, and her grandfather literally died the next day. What a pain for someone on a visa.

I really think my best option is to fly up one day, go to the passport office, pay for an urgent one, and pick it up the next day. It seems I've been invited to a party in YYZ next Friday, so the timing could work out. It just means I need to leave after work Wednesday and work remotely Thursday/Friday.

vernonc

Yes I had to do the next day thing once too when I forgot the expiry. If I remember correctly, you probably have to take proof of when you are flying for them to give you the next day passport in addition to paying a very high 'urgent' fee. If you are flying to YYZ, the Mississauga passport office is about 20-30 mins away depending on traffic.

canadiancow

I know exactly which office I'm going to use (I think that one), and I'll definitely have proof. I just booked my round-trip ticket for my passport replacement friend's 30th.

What a pain.

RangerNS

I had to very carefully schedule my renewal and just because it was coming up to expired (e,r 6 months before expired).

So far as I could understand the process, renewals always require providing the old passport. Which makes renewals a very risky proposal for the likes of me who expect to be in Canada for only 1 business day (if that) at a time.

Jumper Jack

156 Hours to Go