Passport Canada

Last updated
Passport Canada
Agency overview
Dissolved1 July 2013
Superseding agency
Type Special operating agency
Key document

Passport Canada was an independent, special operating agency of the Government of Canada with bureaucratic oversight provided through Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Formerly known as the Passport Office prior to June 2006, [1] Passport Canada was responsible for issuing, revoking, withholding, and recovering Canadian passports, and it was the sole issuer of them (except for emergency and temporary passports that may be issued by a Canadian mission abroad). [2]

Contents

The agency operated under the auspices of the Canadian Passport Order which defined the agency. [3] Due to its status as a special operating agency, Passport Canada was financed through the fees collected for issuing passports and other travel documents. It did not receive direct funding from the federal government.

Passport Canada became defunct on 1 July 2013, after the amended Canadian Passport Order came into effect. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada replaced Passport Canada as the passport issuing authority on that date. [4] Employment and Social Development Canada, through Service Canada, is responsible for the delivery of the passport program on behalf of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Service Canada delivers in-person passport services in passport offices and at Service Canada Centres in Canada. [5]

Canadian Passport Order

The Canadian Passport Order is an Order in Council made under the authority of the royal prerogative. [4] First passed in 1981, it has been amended several times. Under the previous Canadian Passport Regulations, which the Order superseded, residents of Canada could obtain a passport by completing an application and sending it in by mail to the Department of External Affairs without having to prove their Canadian citizenship. [6]

It specifies who is eligible for a Canadian passport, as well as the procedure and application process for obtaining one. Under the Order, the Governor-in-Council has the authority to revoke or refuse a passport on grounds specified in the Order. A passport may not be refused or revoked on grounds not specified in the Order.

The Order established the Passport Office (later Passport Canada) as a special operating agency to oversee the distribution of passports to Canadian citizens. Following amendments in 2013, Passport Canada was dissolved and responsibilities for issuing Canadian passports were transferred to the Passport Program of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Auditor General's Report

In April 2005, the Auditor General of Canada Sheila Fraser gave a scathing report on Passport Canada, writing that employees of the agency lack proper security clearance. [7] Prior to the Auditor General's report, Passport Canada had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Corrections Canada to obtain a full list of inmates' names, as they are ineligible for a passport.

Follow-up reports were issued in 2007—which noted continuing control issues [8] —and 2009—where satisfactory progress was observed, especially in light of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative introduced by the United States. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth. Depending on the jurisdiction, a record of birth might or might not contain verification of the event by such as a midwife or doctor.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the department of the Government of Canada with responsibility for matters dealing with immigration to Canada, refugees, and Canadian citizenship. The department was established in 1994 following a reorganization.

In international law, a stateless person is someone who is "not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law". Some stateless people are also refugees. However, not all refugees are stateless, and many people who are stateless have never crossed an international border. On November 12, 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated there are about 12 million stateless people in the world.

Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country, and to leave the country and return to it. The right includes not only visiting places, but changing the place where the individual resides or works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certificate of identity</span> Travel document issued by a country to non-citizens

A certificate of identity, sometimes called an alien's passport, is a travel document issued by a country to non-citizens residing within their borders who are stateless persons or otherwise unable to obtain a passport from their state of nationality. Some states also issue certificates of identity to their own citizens as a form of emergency passport or otherwise in lieu of a passport. The visa requirements of certificates of identity may be different from those of regular passports.

In the United States, identity documents are typically the regional state-issued driver's license or identity card, while also the Social Security card and the United States Passport Card may serve as national identification. The United States passport itself also may serve as identification. There is, however, no official "national identity card" in the United States, in the sense that there is no federal agency with nationwide jurisdiction that directly issues an identity document to all US citizens for mandatory regular use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport</span> Passports issued to Chinese citizens of Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China passport is a passport issued only to permanent residents of Hong Kong who also hold Chinese citizenship. In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, since the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July 1997, the passport has been issued by the Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong under the authorisation of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. As the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, the passport is printed bilingually in both Chinese and English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parole (United States immigration)</span> Official permission to enter and remain temporarily in the U.S.

Parole, in the immigration laws of the United States, generally refers to official permission to enter and remain temporarily in the United States, under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), without formal admission, and while remaining an applicant for admission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Korean nationality law</span> History and regulations of South Korean citizenship

South Korean nationality law details the conditions in which an individual is a national of the Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly known as South Korea. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in the country for at least five years and showing proficiency in the Korean language. All male citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to perform at least 18 months of compulsory military service. North Korean citizens are also considered South Korean nationals, due to the ROK's continuing claims over areas controlled by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The USA PATRIOT Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2001 as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. It has ten titles, each containing numerous sections. Title IV: Protecting the Border aims to prevent terrorism in the USA through immigration regulations. The provisions of the title generally increase the difficulty of entering the country for those known to have, or suspected of having, terrorist intent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada permanent resident card</span> ID document

The Permanent Resident card is an identification document and a travel document for permanent residents of Canada. It is one of the methods by which Canadian permanent residents can prove their status and is, along with the permanent resident travel document (PRTD), one of the only documents that allow permanent residents to return to Canada by a commercial carrier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian passport</span> Passport issued to citizens of Canada

A Canadian passport is the passport issued to citizens of Canada. It enables the bearer to enter or re-enter Canada freely; travel to and from other countries in accordance with visa requirements; facilitates the process of securing assistance from Canadian consular officials abroad, if necessary; and requests protection for the bearer while abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian immigration and refugee law</span>

Canadian immigration and refugee law concerns the area of law related to the admission of foreign nationals into Canada, their rights and responsibilities once admitted, and the conditions of their removal. The primary law on these matters is in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, whose goals include economic growth, family reunification, and compliance with humanitarian treaties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visa policy of the United States</span> Policy on permits required to enter the United States and its unincorporated territories

The visa policy of the United States consists of the requirements for foreign nationals to travel to, enter, and remain in the United States. Visitors to the United States must obtain a visa from one of the U.S. diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa-exempt or Visa Waiver Program countries. The same rules apply for travel to all U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands with additional waivers, while similar but separate rules apply to American Samoa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish nationality law</span> History and regulations of Polish citizenship

Polish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. Children born to at least one Polish parent acquire Polish citizenship irrespective of place of birth. Besides other things, Polish citizenship entitles the person to a Polish passport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travel document</span> Identity document issued by a government or international entity

A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the bearer may return to the issuing country, and are often issued in booklet form to allow other governments to place visas as well as entry and exit stamps into them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkish nationality law</span> Law of nationality in Turkey

Turkish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. Children who are born to a Turkish mother or a Turkish father are Turkish citizens from birth. The intention to renounce Turkish citizenship is submitted in Turkey by a petition to the highest administrative official in the concerned person's place of residence, and when overseas to the Turkish consulate. Documents processed by these authorities are forwarded to the Ministry of Interior (Turkey) for appropriate action.

Palestinian people have a history that is often linked to the history of the Arab Nation. Upon the advent of Islam, Christianity was the major religion of Byzantine Palestine. Soon after the rise of Islam, Palestine was conquered and brought into the rapidly expanding Islamic empire. The Umayyad empire was the first of three successive dynasties to dominate the Arab-Islamic world and rule Palestine, followed by the Abbasids and the Fatimids. Muslim rule was briefly challenged and interrupted in parts of Palestine during the Crusades, but was restored under the Mamluks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visa policy of Canada</span> Policy on permits required to enter Canada

The visa policy of Canada requires that any foreign national wishing to enter Canada must obtain a temporary resident visa from one of the Canadian diplomatic missions unless they hold a passport issued by one of the 54 eligible visa exempt countries and territories or proof of permanent residence in the United States.

References

  1. "Canadian Passport Order, Version of document from 2006-03-22 to 2006-06-27".
  2. "Directory of Canadian Government Offices Abroad".
  3. "Canadian Passport Order, Version of document from 2013-03-27 to 2013-07-01".
  4. 1 2 Canadian Passport Order , SI/81-86
  5. "About the Passport program".
  6. "History of passports". Passport Canada. Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  7. "2005 April Report of the Auditor General of Canada - Chapter 3—Passport Office—Passport Services". Auditor General of Canada. April 2005.
  8. "2007 February Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada - Chapter 3—Passport Services—Passport Canada". Auditor General of Canada. February 2007.
  9. "2009 March Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada - Chapter 5—Passport Services—Passport Canada". Auditor General of Canada. March 2009.