Applying for a passport

If you want to submit your application in person, but can’t go yourself, you can ask someone else to submit it for you.

However, if it’s an urgent or express application, you do have to go yourself. You can’t have someone else submit the urgent or express application for you.

The person who submits your application must

• show a piece of ID
• be 16 or older
• be related to you in one of the following ways:
  • parent
  • child
  • parent’s spouse or common-law partner
  • child’s spouse or common-law partner
  • brother or sister
  • half-brother or half-sister
  • stepbrother or stepsister
  • spouse or common-law partner
  • relatives of your spouse or common-law partner, including their
    • parent
    • child
    • parent’s spouse or common-law partner
    • child’s spouse or common-law partner
    • brother or sister
    • half-brother or half-sister
    • stepbrother or stepsister
• either
  • live at the same address as you, or
  • bring a written statement signed by you that says they can apply on your behalf

Any other relative living at your address can also submit an application on your behalf if they

• are 16 or older
• show ID that lists their address
  • If their ID doesn’t have an address, they need to show another form of proof that they live at the same address as you.

What your written statement needs to say

Your written statement must note that you’re allowing this person to submit your passport application on your behalf. It should include the following information:

• your full name
• their full name
• their relationship to you
• your signature and the date you signed it

Example:

I, (your full name), hereby authorize (their full name), my (their relationship to you), to submit this passport application on my behalf.

(Your signature and the date you signed it)

Please contact us.

If the other parent is deceased, you should include the following with the application:

• death certificate
• child's long-form birth certificate with the names of all parents

Most people in the US apply for a passport by mail. This is because Government of Canada offices in the US don’t offer regular passport services.

However, if you plan to be in Canada, you or an acceptable third party can submit the application in Canada at a Service Canada Centre (opens in a new tab). You cannot ask a third party to submit an urgent or express application for you.

If the child is in the US

We’ll send the passport by courier to your address in the US.

If the child is in Canada with you

You have the option of either

• picking it up in person (extra fees apply)
• having it mailed to a Canadian address

If you want to pick up the passport in Canada

•  You or an acceptable third party must submit your application at a passport office (Service Canada Centre – Passport Services) (opens in a new tab).
•  When the passport is ready, you must pick it up at the passport office.
•  You can’t authorize someone else to pick up the passport for you.

If you want the passport mailed to a Canadian address

You have to

•  submit your application in person
•  confirm the child will be in Canada to get the passport

You also need to

•  complete a declaration concerning a Canadian residing in the USA requesting to have the passport delivered to an address in Canada [PPTC 586] (PDF, 50.6 KB) or
•  give us a written statement with the following information:
  •  how long you’re staying in Canada
  •  your contact information while in Canada
  •  a description of the address provided
    • for example, the home of a friend or family member
  •  the full name of the person you’re staying with in Canada

Most people just apply at the nearest Government of Canada office (opens in a new tab) that provides passport services. To do so, follow the steps to apply from abroad for a child passport (opens in a new tab).

However, you or an acceptable third party may also submit the application in Canada at a passport office (Service Canada Centre – Passport Services) (opens in a new tab) if you want. However, there are some conditions to this.

Requirements to submit a child passport application in Canada if living abroad

•  You must pick it up at the passport office when it’s ready.
•  The child must be with you when you pick it up.
•  You can’t have a third party submit an urgent or express application for you.

To get your passport and supporting documents back to you as quickly as possible, we may mail them back to you separately. It may take up to 6 weeks for you to get them.

If you get your new passport and your supporting documents aren’t in the same envelope, please wait to call us. You should get your documents soon.

If it has been more than 6 weeks since you got your passport and you still haven’t received your supporting documents, contact us.

The name printed in the passport will be the name on your proof of citizenship except if you

• want to drop or invert a given name from the name displayed on your proof of citizenship
  • In this case, the name you want in your passport must match the name on your supporting ID
• adopted or resumed a last name due to a marriage, divorce, common-law relationship or end of a common-law relationship
  • If so, you must
    • provide supporting ID showing your new surname
    • submit your marriage/divorce/common-law certificate with your application
• changed your name following an adoption, a court decision or a legal name change and have not obtained a new proof of citizenship with your or your child’s new legal name
  • In this case, you will need to submit
    • your or your child’s proof of citizenship in the old name
    • supporting ID showing your new given name(s) and last name, if applying as an adult
    • the original or a copy of your or your child’s legal name change certificate, adoption order or court order displaying the old name and the new name

We use an Adobe certificate in our forms that lets you

• save your information
• digitally sign them
• generate bar codes

This certificate needs to be renewed after several years to keep those features working. If you use an old form instead of downloading the most recent one, those features may not work as of January 6, 2023. This is because that’s when the old certificate expires.

The bar code is a digital version of the personal information you enter in section one of the passport application. It allows us to:

• speed up data entry
• reduce the number of errors

The information in the bar code includes your:

• surname (last name)
• given name(s)
• surname (last name) at birth
• date of birth
• place of birth
• address of permanent residence
• mailing address

The bar code changes into a big grey box when you enter more data than the bar code can hold.

If this happens, continue to fill out the form, print and submit the application. We will enter the information manually.