So the background is that my 2 year old daughter has a Japanese passport and I’m in the process of getting her Canadian passport but the processing time is lengthy and there are a lot of hoops to jump through.
We are planning to book a flight back to Canada for February and, if I’m unable to get her Canadian passport by then, I’m wondering if we’ll have any trouble traveling on her Japanese passport. It seems that technically that’s not allowed as she is a Canadian citizen by birth, but has anyone had any experiences with that kind of situation? Is it a bad idea or not much of
an issue?
6 comments
It’s kind of luck of the draw. Plenty of people get through no problem. Others are refused entry, in which case there is nothing you can do expect give up on that flight. Lots of stories about it, like https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canadian-passport-rules-1.3895332
That said you can get an expedited passport if you have travel plans in place.
The airline will likely reject your daughter from boarding (they are supposed to at least).
Also, OP apply for citizenship asap. It took me 2 months to get the cert. You can also, apply for an emergency passport. The process is not that lengthy get the documents translated and certified first, do the other paper work and photos when your waiting. Send it to the embassy via red letter pack.
Stop dragging your feet, you’ve had 2 years
Be very cautious about that, you might not even be allowed to board the plane. If you are Canadian, you have to enter on your Canadian passport now.
Canadian authorities have become way more anal retentive than they used to be.
Seperate issue, but my wife and I lived in Canada for a few years together more than 15years ago and she had PR status. After moving to Japan permanently we didn’t bother updating it and her PR card expired. We never thought much of it since we weren’t planning on moving back and with visa free travel from Japan she had always just entered as a tourist on her Japanese passport when we visited.
Then 4 years ago we are at the airport with our 2 kids for a trip home and suddenly we aren’t allowed to board because they flag that my wife has PR in Canada but her card was expired. Didn’t matter that we were entering as tourists as we always did, she just wasn’t allowed into the country.
This led to the paradox of us going through the process of renouncing her Canadian PR status precisely in order to allow her to enter Canada as a tourist without it. We didn’t learn that lesson in time to save that trip and the plane left without us.
Relevant point though is to not underestimate how strictly Canadian Immigration enforces its rules, you can literally be left at the airport watching thousands of dollars in plane tickets go up in smoke.
Is this Canada specific
I got my daughter a temporary passport, took 1 month. Only lasts for 2 years though. There are other emergency options if required. If you can’t get citizenship in time apply for the temporary.
It’s the ETA Visa that causes the trouble. Before it came in place there was no trouble for my kids to enter Canada on a Japanese passport. But now, they would need to apply for an ETA but won’t be able to get one because they are Canadian. We ended up getting emergency passports for a trip and have gotten their proof of citizenship and passports.