Passport Request, but passport will expire in 6 months and no blank page left

[GOGOGO]

I received passport request email today and have to submit photocopy of my passport (from visa exempt country) within 60 days. However the email appears to say my passport needs to be valid for at least 1 year and with a blank page.

My situation:
1) My passport will expire in mid Oct 2012;
2) There isn't any blank page in my passport;
3) It will take 4-8 weeks to renew my passport from overseas to my country, which means I may miss the 60 days submission deadline.

Question: Can I send in my passport photocopy now and renew my passport parallelly, or must I renew my passport first?

Here is an extract of the email:

The processing of your application appears complete at this time. Please submit the required passport(s) within 60 days as the issuance of your visa is time sensitive.

...

If you and/or your dependent(s) hold a passport from a visa exempt country, this office will NOT require your/their passport(s) to finalize this case. Only submit the passport(s) for those persons who require a visa for Canada. For all others, submit a clear photocopy of EVERY page in their valid passport

Passport Requirements
! Your original passport (must be valid for at least one year) and the original passports for each of your accompanying dependants.
! Please ensure that there is at least one blank page, other than the last page, in each of the passports. A parent and one or more children may share the same passport. If there is more than one child included in the parent's passport, ensure there is one blank page for each child.
! The immigrant visa placed in your passport shows an expiry date. You may enter Canada anytime before the expiry date shown on the visa; this date cannot be extended. If you fail to enter Canada before this date, you will be required to re-apply and submit new application and processing fee.

...

Appreciate any of your help!

 

[Timemachine]

Are you visa exempt? Seems they probably need the blank page to put the counter foil in, but you won't need one if you are visa exempt. Not sure why they require a year to expiry though... Congrats on ppr!!

 

[robrod]

He is from visa-exempt country.
But they are asking from what I read in their letter for the original passport (it doesn't read photocopy anywhere).
As far as I know they no longer issue counter-foils, or am I wrong?.
I would wait for a senior response and if one isn't posted soon, a phone call or even better a visit to the local office.
Best of luck.

 

[robrod]

ps. I am not from visa-exempt country but was able to renew mine at my local Consulate here in Toronto and picked it up a week later.
I assume yours cannot be renewed locally instead of overseas?.

 

[GOGOGO]

Thanks Timemachine & robrod! Yes, I'm from visa exempt country (Hong Kong), which I'm allowed to send in photocopy.

I can renew my passport via the China Consulate in Toronto, but they take long time to process (4-8 weeks). So I don't particularly want to do it now if it is not necessary. (PS: I have another passport that I can use to travel even my Hong Kong passport is expired)

You're correct about they no longer issuing counterfoil. I didn't copy the whole email in the original post. Here is the part.

/Quote/

Note: As of December 1, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will no longer issue a Permanent Resident counterfoil to applicants from visa exempt countries. All applicants approved for permanent residence, whether they hold a passport from a visa exempt country or from a country requiring a visa for Canada, will continue to be issued a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) document.

Please consult our website for a complete list of visa exempt countries:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp#exemptions

If you and/or your dependent(s) hold a passport from a visa exempt country, this office will NOT require your/their passport(s) to finalize this case. Only submit the passport(s) for those persons who require a visa for Canada. For all others, submit a clear photocopy of EVERY page in their valid passport

/Unquote/

 

[OhCanadiana]

Congrats GOGOGO!

My 2 cents...

If you are landing soon, proceed now; otherwise renew so you don't run out of time on your visa in case of an emergency before October that limits your ability to travel.

You don't have to renew your passport before submission but do NOT renew it before landing.
Ideally try not to renew it before receiving your PR card so that if you need to travel your COPR matches the passport you are traveling. However, if you have to it's not a big deal as long as you get your old passport back with the number fully readable so the immigration officer can refer to it.

Here's how I think through it:

Given that you are from a visa exempt country you don't need to submit your passport so having an empty page (or not) shouldn't matter. However you will get a COPR with your passport number on it (linked to the passport you mail in per:

"If you and/or your dependent(s) hold a passport from a visa exempt country, this office will NOT require your/their passport(s) to finalize this case. Only submit the passport(s) for those persons who require a visa for Canada. For all others, submit a clear photocopy of EVERY page in their valid passport"


The COPR has your passport info on it / associated with it (at least the older ones did and the new ones at least have the same electronic info associated with it). They will check this at the border when you land so don't renew your passport before you land.

I don't know how expiration dates work for visa exempt countries, but given that your passport will expire to avoid questions, I'd land sooner rather than later.

You can always try sending a case specific enquiry to Buffalo to get confirmation from them.

 

[GOGOGO]

Thanks OhCanadiana!
I sent an email to the New York visa office who processes my file and also faxed them my questions. Will see what they say.

 

[Amy612]

Thanks OhCanadiana!
I sent an email to the New York visa office who processes my file and also faxed them my questions. Will see what they say.

Congratulations for your PPR.

Whatever I understood from your email:
The email is a general format. At the end they said if you are from a visa exmpt country you don't have to send original passport. You can send photocopy. So I don't think they are askiing a passport with a blank page from you.
Anyway let us know what they reply.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Thanks OhCanadiana!
I sent an email to the New York visa office who processes my file and also faxed them my questions. Will see what they say.

You're welcome. Hopefully they reply 'no problem'

 

[robin55]

our passports also expire soon and they are still with embassy...dont know what to do

 

[GOGOGO]

Here is the response I've got back from NY VO regarding whether I can use my current passport to proceed:

"Please be advised that our office has issued your Immigration papers with the current passport you submitted details on your application. Once Immigration Visas are printed it's final. You are Visa exempt. However, I am not an officer at the port of entry therefore, I can not assume the size of stamp or entrym notes on your passport page. You may go to your Consulate and request emergency additional pages added to your passport if they will grant it."

Can anyone who landed please share what size of stamp/notes the POE officer put in your passport please?

If it's just a standard entry stamp, then I'll go ahead with my current passport, because it has space for stamps, just not having a full blank page.

Note: I mentioned in my email to them that I will land as soon as I get the COPR, and in their response they didn't address my question about passport expiry in 6 months issue, so I presume it's not a concern at least in my case.

 

[amaranth]

Standard entry stamp. Mine was, anyway... Landed at Peace Bridge (Ft. Erie/Buffalo)

 

[Bargeld]

I landed October 20th 2011, I have one page stamped with counterfoil from when I physically went to Buffalo and took care of PPR (they handed me my passport back plus COPR which I took to the border), another page stamped next to it for landing -- on the landing page w/stamp the CBSA officer also stapled the new COPR to it, which I removed and filed for later citizenship use once I received PR card in the mail.

 

[GOGOGO]

Thanks ALL!

 

[GOGOGO]

Just to give an update for others' future reference.

I sent in the passport copy even though the passport will expire in 6 months and no blank page. COPR was mailed to me. I landed with this passport. The border officer asked me if I have another passport which I have and handed it over to her. She confirmed with me on which passport was used in the immigration process, then tried hard to find a blank page in that passport, and eventually stamped on a blank page which is not supposed to be used for visa/stamp! Anyway, the landing was done and I will renew my passport later.

Note: The stamp measures 2"x1.5" including some hand-written stuff underneath the stamp.