PR Stamping: Passports Seized by Canada Customs

[amodyt]

What value did you enter for you passports? I heard if you put a value greater then $20, they need someone they can contact in Canada before they can release the items.

We had three passports so we gave $1 each. (Total $3)

 

[amodyt]

Hei Amod, I hope the issue gets resolved soon and I am very sorry to hear about the inconvenience. Can you plz advise the timeline of this? When did you send the passport , when CIC got the package and ehn they called you? I sent passport 1 month back and still no data available in system for my case, I am blind here and fearing if my passport also did not reach CIC. Thanks in advance for your help.

The package was received by cic on 21st sep but we got a call about Missing passports on 26th sep.

 

[canada_dreamer]

The package was received by cic on 21st sep but we got a call about Missing passports on 26th sep.

Have you contacted CBSA?

 

[JatesNavin]

Hi,

I am sorry to hear about your situation. Unfortunately, me and my wife are in a same situation as well. We received a call from cic today(26th sep) that they have received the documents but out passports are missing. We had used FedEx and have raised a case with them to recover our passports.

Would you mine connecting over phone or email to discuss about the issues? I think any knowledge we can share with each other would help us with our problem.

I hope you find your passport soon.

Thanks,
Amod

Hi Amod & Manag. Very sad to hear your case. Any update on the lost passport? Were you able to track it back? With tracking number how did you know that it was with CBSA for 3 days? I
I am also an Indian national residing in US. I have sent my passport last week but hasn't got any update yet. Any info will be of great help. I am very anxious at the moment.

Regards,
Navin.

 

[amodyt]

Hi,

I am sorry to hear about your situation. Unfortunately, me and my wife are in a same situation as well. We received a call from cic today(26th sep) that they have received the documents but out passports are missing. We had used FedEx and have raised a case with them to recover our passports.

Would you mine connecting over phone or email to discuss about the issues? I think any knowledge we can share with each other would help us with our problem.

I hope you find your passport soon.

Thanks,
Amod

Hi all,

I am happy to share with you that our passports were found and delivered to CIC. They were at the FedEx office at indianapolis ,USA. We are still trying to find out why were they removed from the package but at this moment we are happy that they have been found.Hope this information will be helpful to others if they face similar situation.

Thanks,
Amod

 

[manag]

Our passports were also found but because they could not track our contact info, they were shipped to the Indian Consulate in Atlanta. Had to fly in and collect the passports personally as the consulate would not release them without in-person verification. Had the UPS security personnel not found the accompanying documents which indicated we were US residents (our photos were with the passports and as per guidelines had the address of the photo studio on the back), they could have turned in the passports to the Indian Consulate in Canada and I am not sure how I would have been able to retrieve them in that case.

@legalfalcom - the last page of all Indian passports clearly state that passports "should not be sent out of any country by post". One may choose to treat that as a guideline, but fact is we all take a risk when we mail our passports outside our country of residence. It works out for most of the folks on the forum and that is also why I mailed the passports initially. Unfortunately, we turned out to be the unlucky few.

I have requested CIC for local processing as after all this I am vary of re-shipping the passports to Canada. They have asked me to ship the passports to their New York visa office for further processing.

 

[manag]

I am so sory to hear that brother. I prey that all will get resolved. I am also an Indian ctizen working and living in US. Can you plz advise when did you send the passport and when CIC got them an when you got cal from CIC? thanks.

Unfortunately, there was a big delay between package delivery and CIC informing us of the missing passports. We actually received a "Last Reminder Notice" email for submitting our passports. It was only after receiving that final notice that we realized there was an issue. Any email sent to the Ottawa office email id has a turn around time of 20 days for response (Calling the CIC helpline does not work as they cannot connect you to a specific office). Hence, it was a good 10 days after I had sent in an email with all the tracking information that someone from CIC called up. By this time 20 days had passed since the package had been delivered to CIC.

If you have not received the Final Reminder Notice, your passport is probably under processing. You can try calling the CIC helpline for an update. Also drop and email to the Ottawa office as well as raise a CSE. The CSE has a 10 day response time and are generally faster than the Ottawa office to respond.

 

[manag]

For anyone in NA considering local visa office processing - our experience with NY VAC (Visa application center)

- Shipped passports to VAC last Thu
- VAC received the passports on Fri morning
- COPR approved on Wed
- Passports shipped back on Thu

Overall the process took less than a week.

 

[andyding13]

For anyone in NA considering local visa office processing - our experience with NY VAC (Visa application center)

- Shipped passports to VAC last Thu
- VAC received the passports on Fri morning
- COPR approved on Wed
- Passports shipped back on Thu

Overall the process took less than a week.

May I ask how long did Ottawa replied to your request to change visa office after you sent the request? Thanks!

 

[manag]

The turn around time for CPC Ottawa office to respond to any email request is 20 days - so you have to be patient if you request local visa office processing. They issue a new PPR letter directing you to submit your documents to the NY or LA VAC.

Calling the helpline to request local office processing does not work - they cannot connect you to someone in Ottawa. CSE reponse times are faster, but I have not tried that route.

Based on my personal experience, I can attest that the 30 day window to mail your passports to Ottawa is not strictly enforced. Hence, if you have strong reasons for requesting local visa processing, I would say wait for Ottawa office to respond. Also, always reply back to the same email as creating new email requests just creates a new ticket at their end.

 

[rix_08]

The turn around time for CPC Ottawa office to respond to any email request is 20 days - so you have to be patient if you request local visa office processing. They issue a new PPR letter directing you to submit your documents to the NY or LA VAC.

Calling the helpline to request local office processing does not work - they cannot connect you to someone in Ottawa. CSE reponse times are faster, but I have not tried that route.

Based on my personal experience, I can attest that the 30 day window to mail your passports to Ottawa is not strictly enforced. Hence, if you have strong reasons for requesting local visa processing, I would say wait for Ottawa office to respond. Also, always reply back to the same email as creating new email requests just creates a new ticket at their end.

Did you receive your COPR from the New York Visa office ?

 

[Rasak]

Hi,
Am a student of George Brown College i was having a issue with the IRCC holding my passport for the past 3 months now. I gain my admission to GBC last year which am suppose to resume by January but unfortunately i was not due to the delay of my passport, my agent in Canada told me my passport was stamped instead of them to send it back to me i came with an excuse saying the bank account that was attached to my documents is too huge and they ask for a bank statement to confirm if the bank account was legal or not immediately they request for that i went to the bank to collect bank statement and send it to them i was expecting everything should be solve but not the IRCC just keep mute and not responding they just seize my passport over there meanwhile am missing alot in the school please i need a help cause I don’t want to fail my course as am writing this message am still here in Nigeria waiting for there respond