Help!!! Passport Mailed Back...No Visa Included!

[amandamanda]

Hello everyone! I am a newbie here...but I wish I had joined before sending my passport out!

My passport was requested last week Tuesday, so I sent it out via express mail on Friday, the 28th (which I am still upset about...considering priority mail would have gotten there by Monday...waste of my 40$ to mail both ways).

Anyway, I sent my passport to the LOS ANGELES address: EAPP, Consulate General of Canada, Immigration Section, 550 South Hope Street, 9th floor, Los Angeles CA 90071.

I thought that was the smarter option considering there is some information on the website about the New York office being closed...

Yesterday, my passport came back...I was so excited. I was even thinking about how I should have scheduled my trip for next weekend instead of the 24th of April.

I open my passport...No visa! Just a letter! I was so scared that it was a rejection letter! I couldn't understand why they would reject me though! I was in Canada just last year!

It was a letter telling me that they no longer accept passports for visa applications online! HOW RUDE!

I called my friend who had just completed the process a few weeks ago and he sent his package to the LA office with no problem!

Thank goodness for this website...I found out that the same thing had happened to a few people.

I guess my question now is: for those people who have submitted a passport within the last week or received their passports within the last two weeks, or experienced my dilemma...how did you send your passport out? I have read about the DHL (or is it UPS?) option...but I don't quite understand it and I will honestly prefer to send mine to the NY office via USPS!

Please help me...by providing the exact address you sent it to and all that!

Thank you!..and many thanks to those who dilligently respond to questions here or post their experiences! You make things easier for the rest of us!

 

[bonitaellada]

Amandamanda
I had the same problem. The VAC in NY is closed, not the consulate.
2days ago I sent my passport to NY by USPS Express mail

The address is
EAPP
Canadian Consulate General
Immigration Section
1251 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Send the following:
1- your passport
2- the letter you received
3- a return self addressed USPS Express Mail envelope

This will cost you $40 again. Sorry for that but it's safer and faster this way.

My passport is expected to reach today and I am waiting anxiously for it to be returned after more than 40 days of waiting for the visa.
Pls come back and let us know once you receive your passport back.

 

[amandamanda]

You are awesome Bonitaellada! Thank you so so much!

I hope we get our passports with our visas back soon! I'm going to mail mine in after work today!

Amandamanda
I had the same problem. The VAC in NY is closed, not the consulate.
2days ago I sent my passport to NY by USPS Express mail

The address is
EAPP
Canadian Consulate General
Immigration Section
1251 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Send the following:
1- your passport
2- the letter you received
3- a return self addressed USPS Express Mail envelope

This will cost you $40 again. Sorry for that but it's safer and faster this way.

My passport is expected to reach today and I am waiting anxiously for it to be returned after more than 40 days of waiting for the visa.
Pls come back and let us know once you receive your passport back.

 

[devnani]

Please let me know how long it takes for your passports to come back with a stamped visa. I sent mine in today to the NY office as well via fedex and a prepaid return envelope. Hopefully it'll come back soon.

 

[bonitaellada]

1week to 10 days

 

[devnani]

Here's a short cut to this entire process.. no need to go through the extra fees of CSC consular service or the VAC consent form etc.
I applied for my mom's visitors visa on the 10th of May (Saturday). On the 13th of May I got the email request to send passport. The link on the letter was directly to the Canadian immigration website. On the 14th of May, (after much debate and research about whether to send the passport to the LA or the NY consulate), I sent the passport with the submission letter via Fedex to the New York Consulate. YES, THEY DO ACCEPT PASSPORTS TO STAMP VISA. I also included the return prepaid Fedex envelope within this package.
The passport reached New York on the 16th (Friday). On the 20th (Tuesday) I got an email that my status was updated online. Checked and found that the application was closed and that the visa was approved. Received the stamped passport back via Fedex on the 22nd (Thursday). Total time from application to stamped passport was 12 days.
From what I'm reading online, the LA submission process is just an additional delay and expense. On the very first page of the CSC form that you download, it says that "the use of CSC's service is voluntary". It also says that CSC is not an agent of the Government of Canada and that it's a completely independent organization.
I hope this helps others who are caught in this predicament.

 

[mahyawa88]

Amandamanda
I had the same problem. The VAC in NY is closed, not the consulate.
2days ago I sent my passport to NY by USPS Express mail

The address is
EAPP
Canadian Consulate General
Immigration Section
1251 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Send the following:
1- your passport
2- the letter you received
3- a return self addressed USPS Express Mail envelope

This will cost you $40 again. Sorry for that but it's safer and faster this way.

My passport is expected to reach today and I am waiting anxiously for it to be returned after more than 40 days of waiting for the visa.
Pls come back and let us know once you receive your passport back.

Does thnot s mean you can send it to either the consulate OR the VAC? I am very confused right now as the CIC website is not VERY clear. Also.. Does it mean if I send it to the embassy or the consulate, I won't have to pay VAC fees and send consent form? Thank you