Compete the passport application

I got the passport application completed online.  The website http://www.passportcanada.gc.ca/index.aspx?lang=eng is very well put together.  You download the application form. There are two to pick from.  I had to use the full application form because my previous passport had expired about four years ago.

The full application is three pages long. You need two pictures, a guarantor and two references.  The guarantor needs to already have a passport.  Plus you need proof of citizenship.  A birth certificate is sufficient for this.  You also need a second piece of ID.  Your drivers license is the usual other piece of ID.

The renewal application you can use if you have a passport that is about to expired or has recently expired.  This is two pages long.  You need two pictures again, but no guarantor and no references.  You bring along your current passport.

Next time I will remember to renew the passport before it expires.

I got my passport photos at Blacks at Micmac Mall.  I remembered not to smile. That took about 30 minutes.  Picture was taken almost right away and the processing time was about 20 minutes.  There were three other people getting their photos done at the same time.  Boy do I look old in the photos.  I was real tired that night.

I completed the form online and then printed it off. The guarantor needs to complete the form by hand after I have signed all three pages.  The signature on the first page needs to fit inside a box with shaded borders.  Your signature can not touch the border.  It took me three tries to get my signature to fit.  The “f” and the “y” in my last name were touching the top and the bottom of the box.  I sign it and check and then I would print another copy of the page and try again.  Finally I got it right.  That was the toughest part.  The guarantor adds their information and signs one of the passport photos.

Now off to the passport office

The passport office is located in the Maritime Centre on Barrington Street.

I go in the front door into the lobby.  There is a big sign hanging down from the ceiling “Passport Office 15th floor”

I walk over to the elevators.  There is a sign on the wall that says “Passport Office – use the other bank of elevators.”

I go to the other bank of elevators.  There is a sign on the wall that says “Passport Office – 15th floor”

I get on the elevator.  There is a sign beside the 15th floor button that says “Passport Office”

I get off the elevator and there is a sign right in front of you that says “Passport Office this way”

I turn “this way” and there is a sign hanging down from the ceiling that says “Passport Office here”

At the Passport office

I get in the room and there is a couple right in front of me.  They were on the elevator with me.  They pickup an application form and leave.

The lady at the desk asks me if I am travelling before Nov 2.  I am not,  therefore I do not need expedited delivery and she gives me a number.

I sit down and check to see how many people are in front of me.  To my surprise, I am the next person in line.  There is no one else waiting except me.

A few minutes later it is my turn.

I give her my application, birth certificate and drivers license.

The passport should be delivered to my home by registered mail in about 2 weeks.  (Early November)

She says that each of them does about 25 applications a day.  Monday and Friday are their busier days.  When I was there on Monday afternoon the place was pretty empty.

Time to go all done

I was out of the passport office in about 10 minutes.  There were no signs showing me the way out of the office and out of the building. I guess they figured that everyone can make their own way out of the building.

I must say that the number of signs directing you to the passport office was amazing, but they sure did the job.  This must cut down on the number of people asking for directions.  I suspect that there are still people that will get lost despite all of the signs.

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