Question:
I currently have a Canadian passport
with the "Place of Birth" is left
blank. Have any other Canadians
had any problems with this while
traveling to the UK? I plan to go
there later this summer.
Answer:
Swiss passports don't show any place
of birth: they show Heimatsort (commune
of origin). Some few people don't
have either place of birth or date
of birth. When I dealt with African
passports many or most of those
in the country where I was said
"vers [about] 19XX". Why should
this be a problem? You can always
say with a smile that you were a
foundling. That should shut them
up real quick. It does seem strange
to me. Does your birth certificate
show a place of birth? I would contact
your nearest Canadian consulate
or the Candian passport office at
http://www.ppt.gc.ca/menu_e.asp
and ask them to add this information
to your passport or issue an exchange
passport.
Obviously
the passport office messed up. If
you didn't fill that particular
piece of information in on your
application...I'm surprised they
issued your passport. You may do
have trouble going into other countries
but when you return to Canada and
have to go through customs it could
be a problem. Because customs is
so inconsistant I would check this
out. If it's their fault you should
have to pay for a new passport.
It could possibly
cause anything from a delay in your
journey, to being put on the next
flight back home. You may be required
to fill in an entry card upon arrival
to the UK, and you have to specify
your place of birth on that. Have
a blank space is going to require
some explaining. Your passport is
something that needs to be spot
on, and you will have it for 10
years (I believe). I have seen legit
westerners get held up for the most
trivial sounding things. Border
crossings are something you want
to go as smoothly and quickly as
possible.
Canadian passports
are valid for 5 years. Funny thing
with the Canadian passport is, the
"Place of Birth" field on the passport
is optional. You can opt to have
it appear, or not appear. You would
think that my Canadian citizenship
would be enough to get me by. I
really didn't think that this would
even be a problem for travel to
the UK. I guess times have changed.
I just don't want to go through
the application process again. I've
been told to contact the embassy
or consulate for the UK to find
out if this "Place of Birth" field
is a requirement... but I don't
know where to start
The instructions
in the Canadian passport application
say the following about the applicant's
place of birth: "PLACE OF BIRTH:
Your place of birth must be provided
on the application form. If you
do not wish the place of birth to
appear in the passport, submit a
written request. Be sure to contact
the consulate or embassy of every
country you plan to visit to ensure
that you will be admitted if the
passport does not include your place
of birth." I understand that some
people might want to keep their
birthplace a secret while travelling,
but given the way countries that
might care about a traveller's birthplace
seem to tend to assume the worst,
it seems counterproductive in my
view to try to hide it.
I have dual
citizenship - UK and Canandian -
and I live in France. My Canadian
passport was issued by the Embassy
in Paris and has all the fields
filled in. Date of Birth and Place
of Birth. I cannot say if you would
have problems because your "place
of Birth" is left blank" but as
someone else has also mentioned
I would certainly check with with
your nearest passport office and
clarify this issue. Canada allows
the place of birth to be left blank
on a Canadian passport, so it's
not the passport office with which
the poster needs to check.
He should
check with the immigration authorities
of the countries he planning on
visiting to see if they mind that
the place of birth in his Canadian
passport is blank.
