Moving home to Canada with foreign passport?

[fraser23]

Hi,
We are a Canadian family, who have been living in Europe for several years. We are planning on moving back to Canada in the next couple weeks. We are all Canadian citizens and the kids were born in Canada. However, I have just noticed that one of the kids Canadian passports has recently expired (in the last month). There is not enough time to get a new one before we are suppose to leave (embassy says 20 business days). Can she enter the country on her British passport on a one way ticket??? I have the expired passport and her Canadian birth certificate as other evidence....or will they require further proof?
Thanks for your help!!

 

[zardoz]

Hi,
We are a Canadian family, who have been living in Europe for several years. We are planning on moving back to Canada in the next couple weeks. We are all Canadian citizens and the kids were born in Canada. However, I have just noticed that one of the kids Canadian passports has recently expired (in the last month). There is not enough time to get a new one before we are suppose to leave (embassy says 20 business days). Can she enter the country on her British passport on a one way ticket??? I have the expired passport and her Canadian birth certificate as other evidence....or will they require further proof?
Thanks for your help!!

As long as the airline allow her to board the plane on the sole basis of her visa-exempt British passport, she should be fine. A Canadian birth certificate is not a travel document and is of no use at that point. It is of use on arrival however to prove, along with the expired passport, her identity. You may be referred to secondary inspection.

 

[Leon]

This wouldn't have been a problem in the past but now Canada has introduced eTA, it might be.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp

Visit visa exempt travellers are now required to apply for a pre-approval to board a flight. You can try applying for one but since she is a citizen, I have no idea if they would give her one. If not, there is another way and that is flying to the US and entering Canada by land. You do not need an eTA to enter by land.

 

[zardoz]

This wouldn't have been a problem in the past but now Canada has introduced eTA, it might be.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp

Visit visa exempt travellers are now required to apply for a pre-approval to board a flight. You can try applying for one but since she is a citizen, I have no idea if they would give her one. If not, there is another way and that is flying to the US and entering Canada by land. You do not need an eTA to enter by land.

As this is not mandatory until March 15 2016, she might be able to get by without an eTA for this trip.