Get a Canadian a Passport in Chicago
August 2, 2012 7:21 AM   Subscribe

My friend, a Canadian citizen, is visiting me here in Chicago. First day here, she had her messenger bag with her passport (and all her cash, and her laptop) stolen. Where the hell do we go from here? How do you get a Canadian with no ID a Canadian passport? How does she board her flight in a few days?

Step One: She's filing a police report now.
Step Two: ????
posted by Juliet Banana to Law & Government (16 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Call the Canadian consulate in Chicago should be step 2.
posted by ghharr at 7:27 AM on August 2, 2012


Step 2: contact the consulate in Chicago for an emergency replacement passport.

She want to talk to emergency consular services as soon as she can. The number she should call is 1-888-949-9993.

Hope this helps a bit.
posted by bonehead at 7:27 AM on August 2, 2012


Contact the Canadian Consulate General in Chicago. She will want to speak to the Consulate Section.

Tel: 312-616-1860

They will set her up with appropriate documentation to allow her to return to Canada.
posted by kitkatcathy at 7:30 AM on August 2, 2012


I work in the same building as the consulate. Let me know if you need any help picking up documents or getting in touch with a real person, and I'll run down and help sort things out.
posted by BevosAngryGhost at 7:38 AM on August 2, 2012 [7 favorites]


Response by poster: She just moved and doesn't know where her birth certificate is packed.
posted by Juliet Banana at 7:41 AM on August 2, 2012


She just moved and doesn't know where her birth certificate is packed.

Doesn't matter, contact the consulate. This is not their first trip to that rodeo, and they'll help.
posted by mhoye at 7:45 AM on August 2, 2012 [2 favorites]


Lack of id should not stop her from calling. They can still help her. That's the reason for consular services.
posted by bonehead at 7:46 AM on August 2, 2012


I had my purse with ID lifted from me in Dublin. Call the consulate, they are used to dealing with these sorts of urgencies, where someone has had their ID stolen. They were very helpful for me. The biggest thing I had to deal with was getting pics for my temporary passport.
posted by LN at 7:47 AM on August 2, 2012


Her "birth certificate" is just an extract from the local records where the actual record is on file. She can get a new extract (if she even needs it.)
posted by endless_forms at 8:00 AM on August 2, 2012


This is a very very very common thing. She needs to call the consulate. They'll get her temporary documents that will get her back to canada. When she's home, she'll have to apply for a new passport.
posted by Kololo at 8:13 AM on August 2, 2012


+1 consulate. I've been in this exact position (but in New York). The consulate will be very helpful in establishing her nationality - they'll know ways of demonstrating citizenship that you'll never think of. They can issue temporary documents on the spot that are only valid for getting her back into Canada.

Replacing a stolen passport involves more hoops and red tape than getting a regular one, but the consulate will concentrate on getting her back into the country where she can start going through the process.
posted by ceribus peribus at 8:20 AM on August 2, 2012 [2 favorites]


I had this happen to me in Greece several years ago. Absolutely she should go to the consulate. What they will likey do (among other things) is contact someone who can vouch for her identity. In my case, my mom vouched that I was who I said I was and that I'm a Canadian citizen, and I had a (one year, non-scannable) replacement passport in a couple of days, a reissued credit card sent to the consulate for me to pick up and could complete my trip as originally planned. I didn't even have to return home immediately.
posted by Kurichina at 8:25 AM on August 2, 2012


1.) File a police report, like, yesterday
2.) Call the consulate and find out what you need
3.) Go to the consulate with what they need
4.) Contact a family member/employer/roommate/etc. back home; she will need someone to vouch for her.
5.) Consider calling the airline and changing her ticket, depending on when her temporary replacement documents are issued.

Once back in the country, continue working with the consulate to obtain the replacement everythings.

Document, document, document - everything!
posted by floweredfish at 9:04 AM on August 2, 2012 [1 favorite]


this happened to me (A USian) in Copenhagen last month. I just showed up at the embassy with a police report and a few passport photos, and had a new, emergency passport valid for a year in I think 3 days, with no ID of any kind. Just deal with it as fast as you can, they're used to stuff like this.
posted by zingiberene at 9:07 AM on August 2, 2012


Oh, and call any credit card companies if you haven't done so already and cancel all debit and/or credit cards!
posted by floweredfish at 9:17 AM on August 2, 2012


if your friend still has possession of Canadian Citizen's ID (aka Certificate of Canadian Citizenship) then this will help expedite the process of getting her temporary documents. If this was stolen as well, then that's another document that will have to be replaced.

I had my passport stolen in a slightly reverse situation (Canadian citizen working in the US, visiting Canada and car was broken into and bag with passport and citizenship cert was taken, needed replacement passport to return tot he US at end of visit). Went to Passport Canada for an emergency replacement. What I had to provide:

1) Police report
2) New passport photos that have been signed and notarized
3) Name and contact info for two other individuals who can confirm my identity (not family or common law spouses)
4) Notarized application

Some of that notary requirements would have been avoided if I still had possession of my Citizen ID (or reasonable facsimiles of that or my passport)

Took up the better part of an entire day to get all of the relevant documentation together. It was like FedEx quest except instead of having to kill a dragon to get the blood needed by a wizard to craft a potion that would save a princess, it was all of these tiny pieces of bureaucratic paperwork needed to get my life back in gear.

Pro travel tip: keep photocopies of your active passport and relevant\active visas somewhere in your hotel room to expedite replacement in the event of future theft.
posted by bl1nk at 9:26 AM on August 2, 2012


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