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Do I need valid passport for citizenship interveiw?

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slowmo30

Newbie
Jan 17, 2012
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I am a permanent resident of canada who has applied for citizenship. My citizenship test/interview is coming up soon. My most recent passport recently expired. My question is do i need a valid (non-expired) passport at the time of taking my citizenship test or at the time of oath ceremony? Naturally I will be taking all my passports and documents to the citizenship test/interveiw.thanks
 
Hi

slowmo30 said:
I am a permanent resident of canada who has applied for citizenship. My citizenship test/interview is coming up soon. My most recent passport recently expired. My question is do i need a valid (non-expired) passport at the time of taking my citizenship test or at the time of oath ceremony? Naturally I will be taking all my passports and documents to the citizenship test/interveiw.thanks
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No.
 
Where can one find information about this? My passport will be expiring end of this year and I'm not sure when I'll be taking the exam. So I don't know if I need to renew it before taking the exam.

Thanks!
 
It's not absolutely required to bring a valid passport. However, you may want to bring additional proof that you haven't travelled outside Canada since the expiry date of your old passport.

Detailed info:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/notices/notice-new-cit.asp
 
orchids8 said:
Where can one find information about this? My passport will be expiring end of this year and I'm not sure when I'll be taking the exam. So I don't know if I need to renew it before taking the exam.

Thanks!
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Well, they are going to be granting you their Canadian citizenship, so as a common sense they will never ask someone to prove his citizenship of any other country by showing a valid passport from that country as a requirement to get the Canadian citizenship. They only care about meeting the residence requirements as a permanent resident, and the security check "criminal history" in order to grant you the Canadian citizenship.

They ask to see your passports or whatever travel documents you have used to enter Canada, and any other renewed passport just to check the exit and entry stamps on those passports, so that it makes it easier for them to verify your travel history and faster to process your application.

By the way, if you have never renewed your passport since you became a permanent resident of Canada after the expiry date. It gives a strong indication that you may have never left Canada for long time which makes your case even stronger not weaker.

In short, they only wanna see the stamps "exit/entry" on your passport as one of the procedures showing that the applicant is not lying about his residence calculations. (whether it is valid or expired it is up to you and has nothing to do with their mandatory requirements in that regard).

Good luck.
 
they do not require it....however, they do check the passport when u go for test....IMHO they will only smell something fishy if ur passport is expired for a very long time.....
 
slowmo30 said:
they do not require it....however, they do check the passport when u go for test....IMHO they will only smell something fishy if ur passport is expired for a very long time.....
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I am not getting your point ! as to why would they smell something fishy if your passport is expired for a very long time !! why would they prefer that you have your foreign passport renewed when you are already a permanent resident of their country and living in it permanently without traveling anywhere out side Canada.

If your passport is expired for long time, it means that you have never left Canada since it expired which counts for you not against you. Moreover, this is very normal because you already immigrated to Canada and came here to live permanently. Why would you need a valid passport unless you have the intention to travel outside Canada ?

What is fishy about not leaving Canada at all after you arrived and landed as a permanent resident !!!!
 
Thanks everyone for your reply! I am new to this forum as you can see.... didn't realize that there's an additional notify button that I needed to click before I get any notifications.

I am not going to renew my passport in case they lose it during the renewal process. It is the only one I have since becoming a PR so all my stamps are there and indeed I haven't travelled outside of Canada much. :)
 
I became a Canadian citizen and received my Canadian passport! My passport was still valid during the time they interviewed me for my citizenship. I completed the process on August 2012 and old passport expired in Oct 2012.
 
You are required to bring ANY travel documents you had corresponding to the 4 year period in question.
 
mmm_19 said:
did they ask about ur passport lately
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You are required to bring all the passports you've had in the past 4 years. But, it's not a requirement to have a valid one.

I know this is an old post but.. You are still a citizen of an country even with an expired passport.
 
orchids8 said:
Thanks everyone for your reply! I am new to this forum as you can see.... didn't realize that there's an additional notify button that I needed to click before I get any notifications.

I am not going to renew my passport in case they lose it during the renewal process. It is the only one I have since becoming a PR so all my stamps are there and indeed I haven't travelled outside of Canada much. :)
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I am in a similar situation. Passport expired 3 years ago. I have a search letter that will be valid till november 25th and the oath taking is on 18th Nov. What do i do? An early reply will be highly appreciated .Thanks
 
Validity of passport is not required neither validity of PR.Both can be expired for years and you are fine for citizenship application as there is no requirement for validity.
 
Expired document can trigger officers mind What if he has another passport but hiding his recent travel. Expired passport can go against you but not expired PR , licence or health card.

My 2 cents
 
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