My application for PR is in process and I recently received passport request from CHC-London Office. My son (included in my application for PR) is already studying in Canada (currently on a student visa). I am an Indian Citizen working and residing at Kuwait.

CHC London office asked me in their letter to send all passports together, so I obtained my son’s passport from Canada through FedEx courier service, bundled it together with all our passports and sent to London office.

After 2 days, I received a phone call from FedEx –Kuwait asking me to return passports to them as there are some clearance formalities not carried out at Canada.

I informed them that the passport is no longer with me and it is sent to London for PR visa stamping. They said they will send this message to Fedex-Canada and revert back to me if required.

It was clearly told to FedEx (by my son) there in Canada, about the content of the package (passport). Moreover, prior to this, I wrote to FedEx and inquired if they can ship passport to Kuwait and they confirmed that they could ship passport from Canada to Kuwait (between other countries, depends on rules and regulations, they may or may not) and also stated their charges for that service. I have saved their email in this regard.

Now for first landing, I was planning to carry my son’s passport along with me to Canada, show it to the immigration officer at the port and explain him/ her the situation, as to why this passport is being carried inside Canada, without accompanied by the passport holder (who in this case is already in Canada). But with this current issue with FedEx, I do not know, if that is advisable. I may be required to return the passport to FedEx, for their clearance processing at Canada, and they may in turn ship it back to my son in Canada, no idea. They did not call me so far from yesterday.

To be specific, I would like to know, if there is any problem if I do not return the passport to FedEx and decide to carry it myself to Canada when I go for first landing next month.

Further is there any problem at the port that I can carry the passport inside without the passport holder accompanying it.

Any advise and suggestions in this regard are highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-Rabbani

I am no legal expert... but since Fedex is no legal authority, I don't think there is any 'real' requirement for you to return the passport to them! I know many cases where the passport was send to and from US/Canada to India without any declaration or issues. Content of the package merely said 'documents'.

When you get a Passport out of the country in which your son is staying and studying, they know that you got it out of that country by a courier.

Now when the Passport reaches you, they should inform you, (i.e., the London Office) that your son will have to cross the border to get entry stamped into his Passport. (U-Turns are permitted.)

So, Fedex though might feel guilty of transporting it across, the matter now rests squarely upon your shoulders to make sure that your son receives the Passport back safely in his hands. Him being a dependent of yours, you are free to hold custody of the Passport now.

If the Immigration Officer asks you when you land, as there will be an entry in the computers about it, please do tell him that you are carrying the Passport on your person and will get it to your son and he will do the honours at the border crossing. Which means, get it stamped for PR. If he says he can come later to the airport to get it stamped, that will save you a trip. (It will just be a local one) It all depends upon who you come across at the P.O.E.

Good Luck.

Freddie.

Rabbani--------I did send you a detailed reply. I also told you to call me so that I cud tell you some of the experiences. You did not listen to the advice of any of the experienced people. There are many things which cannot be written openly in an open public forum. That is why I sent u a PM but you never tried to contact. By doing all this you have created more problems for your son. Your son should have sent the passport by regular mail directly to the embassy. There was no need to go thru the courier company.

Anyways coming to the point now-----

(a) passports cannot be sent from one country to another. It is illegal. Courier companies are not supposed to accept. If they have accepted --it is their mistake also.

(b) Do not return the passport to FED EX. They will send it to the country of origin and the passport will be cancelled.

(c) When you enter Canada --Do not tell them that u r carrying one extra passport unles they speciifically ask about it.

(d) After you arrive, go to Niagara and cross border with your son via Rainbow bridge.

Try to come asap after you get the passport because it is very essential for visitors or students to have their passports. In case you are sending his passport thru someone--tell them to put it in suitcase and not to disclose when they enter. Do not send again by post or courier. Any doubts call me on monday. I have PM u my phone number

Thanks for your posts.

I did not check your message earlier, as I did not know how to as I was new to this forum. Now I know.

Further, please note the following:

1. London Office advised me to send all send passorts together, they do not accept in more than one package from different sources, it is clearly written in their letter, I can send you if you want to review.

2. My son, can not come during this time and I can not wait till December holidays, as I have to arrive there in Nov. A minor delay till 15-Nov-2008 was still acceptable to U of T.

3. Fedex replied to me that they can ship the passport from Canada to Kuwait, so it was not an illegal task for them. Both countries accept sending and receiving passports. Ofcourse no courier company can ship passport to India, from anywhere in the world as per the Indian rules and regulations.

In view of the above, the only alternative for me was to get hte passport through courier. Anyway, I will call you to discuss in detail.

Thanks and appreciate responses from all others. Still if anybody has anything to share in this regard, most welcome to update the discussion thread and thanks in advance for future updates.

Hi smrabbani,

I will be sailing in the same boat very soon. May I ask you something that why you didnot enquire from CHC London about this issue. If you did, then what was their reply. Please share your experience.

Kind Regards

Candy

Hi,

I did not write to CHC London, as it was not worth writing, as they take 28 days exactly to respond to any such queries. And also it is not under their purview that the passports are not all with me at the time they are requesting to submit them. At the most they would advise and grant me additional time of 3 months until my son visits me in Dec. I did not want any delay that way, so I took my own decision to get the passport by courier. By the way, it is all legal, I have an official reply from FEDEX that they courier passports from Canada to Kuwait. Further, in their receipt form it is mentioned under the content of the package as 'passport', so there is no hiding or cheating of contents in the package from us. It is all their mistake that they did not do some clearance at their side with some dept. in Canada.

Best of luck.

-Rabbani