Canada Passport
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Canadian Passports are the responsibility of the federal government and they can be issued, or recovered and revoked by a branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade called Passport Canada. The fees collected for issuing and renewing passports serve to finance the Canada Passport operation. The Canadian Passport order is under the Royal prerogative and each Canadian passport remains technically the property of Her Majesty the Queen. The Canadian Passport would allow its holder to travel internationally and enter other countries, provided the visa requirements are met. The Canadian Passport is extremely desirable since Canadian can enter as much as 150 countries either without a visa or with a free visa on arrival. |
Such countries include the United States of America, all of the European Continent, South Africa, Mexico, Central America, Argentina, Chile, Peru etc…Around 37 other countries would require Canadian Passport holders to get a visa upon arrival at a specified fee such as in Australia, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey etc….
The Canadian Passport can be issued to Canadian citizens and it is valid for the following 5 years from the date of issue, unless the bearer is less than 3 years of age, it is than valid for 3 years. There are different types of Canada passports, the regular passport with the Navy cover as described earlier, there is the Frequent Traveller Passport which contains more pages, the Temporary Canadian Passport for some urgent and fast need, the one page Emergency passport used only once to return to Canada, the Special Passport with green Cover issued for Canadian forces, members of Parliaments etc, and the Diplomatic Passport with Maroon cover issued for Canadian Diplomats, top ranking government officials etc.
Most people living outside of Canada would love the privilege of holding a Canadian Passport but who is eligible for a Canadian Passport? To apply for a Canadian Passport you must be a Canadian Citizen either by being born in Canada, by being born outside of Canada but at least of one your parents is a Canadian Citizen or if you have become a Canadian Citizen and received the citizenship card by meeting all the requirements of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Once a Canadian Citizen, you can apply or renew your passport by filling the application form, including the required fees, including 2 passport photos with specified requirements and a neutral expression and your most recent passport.
In the past, as a mutual friendly border crossing agreement, Canadian citizens did not need to take their passport to cross the US border and vice versa. But ever since WHTI in 2004, this has changed and Canadian Citizens need their Canadian passport to cross the border to the US or enter back to Canada and US citizens also need their US passport to go back home.