Possibly Lost Passport In Mail - Please Help!

[ukmike]

Hi guys,

I sent my passport on the 3rd Aug on next day recorded delivery using Royal Mail. I have a tracking number that still says that it hasn't arrived! As you can imagine I'm starting to freak out a little and am concerned that if it is lost in the mail I'm not going to have enough time to arrange a new passport and resend the information with the 45 day deadline.

I've just emailed the London office to see if they can confirm anything and asked if the deadline can be extended - but it says it can take up to 28 days for a reply :S

So has anyone else been in this situation? Can the deadline be extended? I'm currently in Canada (posted my passport from Canada to UK no problem!) so any ideas how I would get a new full passport so I can then resend back over to the UK?

I hope I'm worried for nothing but its been a week and like I said it should have been there next day.

Thanks for your advice,
Michael

 

[ella19]

have you contacted the royal mail? As its recorded delivery it should be fully traceable and as such cannot get lost. It could be that they havent updated their system even when it has been delivered - thats happened me a few times using registered post.

 

[ukmike]

I cannot call them till Monday but wanted to know my options in case it was bad news. It gives me a little hope that this has happened in the past where they haven't updated the online status of the delivery - but it's going to be a long weekend until I can get some confirmation!

 

[ukmike]

Just called Royal Mail and was informed there were postal strikes in London from Wednesday 8th for 3 days. So I'm hoping that my passport should be delivered in the next day or two otherwise I'm seriously screwed

 

[Ssarah183]

How frustrating! When I sent my visa application off in Canada I paid for next day delivery before 12. Well they didn't deliver it lol I sent it on the thursday, CIC got it on the next Monday and they didn't update the tracking website until Wednesday to tell me, as you can imagine I was FREAKING out lol Your passport will probably be sent in the next day or two. *fingers crossed for you*

 

[tme]

Hi ukmike, quick question for you. I'm Canadian and my wife is British, we have recently sent in our sponsor and permanent residency applications from outside of canada as we live in London, U.K. We are trying to plan our next few months with regard to jobs, where we'll live etc. It's looking like we may head over to Canada before my wife receives her PR visa as my work may start earlier than we anticipated. My wife would initially come with me as a visitor. Your posting makes it sound as if you are able to send your passport by post to the U.K. and receive the PR visa and then you will be able to "land" in Canada without actually leaving the country, is this the case? just trying to understand if we could save some money and time by not having to fly back to the U.K. in order to receive the visa.

good luck,
tme

 

[ukmike]

Hi tme,

First off I'll say I'm no expert but:

I believe she would be able to technically go over to Canada with you for up to 6 months as a visitor on holiday. If in that time your visa is approved she would then be able to send her passport (including the form and extra photos they request when approved) back to London for it to be stamped. After the 3 weeks or so of processing (unless its hand delivered in which case 10 days) you can then post it back over to Canada and do the 'flagpole procedure' which basically means head towards the US boarder and either loop back round just before you get there or ask to be denied entry and they will send you back. As you head to Canada you can then 'land' as a permanent resident.

So now the problems: There is always a chance they wont believe your wife will leave when you say she will especially if she wants to stay a full 6 months (I booked my flight for 3 month return and was let in fine but was asked if I was intending to work over here) so she needs to be able to give some proof that she will leave, such as, a letter from an employer, return flight home, show she has enough money to survive in Canada without a job for that time, letter from someone in Canada maybe inviting you both to stay here or take some responsibility for you? etc! The other issue is that unless you have someone in London to forward it back over to you it might be a pain to arrange collection direct at the London embassy by say DHL or similar?

I hope that helps and doesn't confuse you too much,
Michael

 

[Empenguin]

ukmike,

I'm not familiar with the UK postal system, but with the system in some countries, you won't get an update from Canada Post once it leaves Canada. For example, I sent documents to Manila from Canada, and after "item has left Canada" there were no updates, even though it arrived at its destination. From the Philippines Post side, they couldn't track it either.

When I sent something to Japan, it was the same issue on the Canadian side, but on the Japan Post website, my tracking # worked and it confirmed delivery that way.

Good luck.

 

[tme]

thanks ukmike, the whole 'flagpoling' thing seems a touch on the sketchy side but I guess we'll see what to do when everything comes in. Seems like something the cic should address, but then again from the size of these forums it looks as though they have plenty of things to address! thanks, tme