Question:
I am canadian citizen working in
US on Green Card. It's time for
me to renew canadian passport. In
the application there is a section
for 1 guarantor and for 2 references.
What are the requirements for references,
do they also have to be doctor/lawyer/policeman/...
?
Answer:
I think you may be looking at the
wrong form. There is a different
passport application form for use
if you are applying from within
the US. That version of the application
does not ask for any references,
just a guarantor. Go back to the
Passport Office's web site. On the
page with the on-line forms http://www.ppt.gc.ca/online_forms/index_e.asp,
you will see three rows of links
one if you are residing in Canada,
another if you are residing in the
US, and a third row if you are residing
somewhere other than Canada or the
US. You want the "US resident" version
of the application.
The list of
possible guarantors doesn't include
as many occupations if you are applying
from within the US. On the other
hand, your guarantor can be either
a Canadian citizen or a US citizen
(whereas only a Canadian citizen
can be your guarantor if you are
applying from within Canada). If
you DID need references (because
you were applying for your passport
from within Canada) . References
do not have to be selected from
the list of occupations for guarantors.
They just have to be two people
who have known you for at least
two years, and who are not related
to you. AFAIK, they don't even need
to be Canadians. But, again, you
don't need references if you're
using the passport application form
for Canadians living in the US.
Make sure you're using the right
form.
