alaintag said:
Hi Guys,
I am currently in Canada and got the "ready for visa" email yesterday on March 6th and they gave me a deadline to send my passport to Ottawawithin 30 days.
The problem is that i am travelling for work from march 14-20 and then april 12th...if i send it on march 21st, can i get it back before april 12th? Does anyone know how long it takes to get the passport back?
Im really worried about this because i can loose my tickets. You think it is OK to ask for an extension to send it after i get back? or will this affect my file?
Appreciate your help!
Hello Alaintag,
The whole exercise (process from sending and receiving the passport) depending upon multiple factors could span between 1 week to 4 weeks, few cases may be longer, though most cases hover around 3 weeks. I would assume 3 weeks for median planning and worst case as 5 weeks.
Affecting factors are how far are you from the visa stamping office, how soon you respond, how many passports, have passport been renewed during application processing, how loaded is CIC, how quick is Canada post on return, etc., etc. (did I not mention...luck?. Grin.). I must add that generally CIC are quick on visa stamping and commend them for this.
Sending passport on march 21st, and getting back before april 12th - this has a chance of approx. 70% success, so you would not like to risk it. As several other applicants have successfully done, provide CIC the travel plan and ask for more time for submitting passports (say after xx date), which CIC generally allows. Important thing is to request by email so you have a record of correspondence.
Hope this helps!