Passport and other travel documents: Refunds for applications processed outside service standards
You may be eligible for a full refund of your passport or other travel document application fee if it took us longer than 30 business days to process your application.
The consular services fee will also be refunded. You’ll still be able to get consular assistance outside Canada if you need it.
On this page
- Who is eligible for a refund
- How refunds work
- Refunds for urgent and express services
- Fees that are not eligible for a refund
- Exceptions
- Partial refunds
Who is eligible for a refund
You’ll get a refund if
- your application took longer than 30 business days to process, and
- the processing was completed on or after April 1st, 2026
The processing time for your application starts when we have all of the following:
- your application form
- photos
- all your supporting documents
- fees
The processing time does not include
- mailing time
- additional review time for complex applications
- holds on an application while we collect additional information
This policy applies to the following types of applications:
- 5-year adult passport in Canada
- 10-year adult passport in Canada
- child passport in Canada
- 5-year adult passport from abroad
- 10-year adult passport from abroad
- child passport from abroad
- temporary passport
- adult refugee travel document
- adult certificate of identity
How refunds work
You don’t have to do anything to get your refund. However, it can take some time for it to be issued. Depending on where you applied from, you may have to wait for it to arrive in the mail.
How we refund applications in Canada or from the US
If you applied in-person or by mail, we’ll
- issue your refund as a cheque
- send it to the mailing address we have on file for you
If you applied online to renew your passport we’ll either
- refund the credit card you used to pay your fees, or
- issue a cheque if the refund to the card doesn’t work
If you applied for a travel document for non-Canadians by mail and paid online, we’ll either
- refund the credit card you used to pay your fees, or
- issue a cheque if the refund to the card doesn’t work
How we refund applications outside Canada or the US
We typically refund the credit card you used to pay your fees.
However, if you didn’t pay with a credit card, we’ll send your refund as an electronic funds transfer.
The consular services fee will also be refunded. You’ll still be able to get consular assistance outside Canada if you need it.
When to contact us
Contact us to ask about your refund if:
- your application wasn’t processed within the service standard, and
- you haven’t received your refund by July 1st of the fiscal year after your application’s processing was completed
- The Government of Canada’s fiscal year begins April 1st and ends March 31st.
Refunds for urgent and express services
Urgent or express pick-up services have shorter timelines.
- Urgent: end of next business day
- Express: 2 to 9 business days
If we don’t meet these timelines, you may be eligible for a full refund under the Financial Administration Act.
Fees that are not eligible for a refund
These application fees are not eligible under the Service Fees Act:
- adult emergency travel document
- child emergency travel document
- child certificate of identity
- child refugee travel documents
- administrative fees, such as
- addition of observation in passport
- addition of special stamp
- certified true copy
- file transfer
- pick up
- retention (abroad)
- additional administrative fee for replacing a valid lost or stolen passport
Exceptions
Refunds do not apply for applications that we process in unusual or exceptional circumstances that may impact regular operations. For more information, see the exclusions within the remission policy.
Partial refunds
The full refund amount applies to all eligible applications closed on or after April 1, 2026. If your application was closed before April 1, 2026, you may be eligible for a partial refund under the old policy.