My (half) day at the Passport Office
My passport expires April 12 and my research trip to England starts April 25. I've been dreading braving the long lines at the passport office for a while now but had to go before the wait got too long. I finally got all my documents together and armed with knowledge from a friend of a friend who works in the same building, planned an early and long day. Neither turned out to be true.
7 a.m.: Alarm clock goes off
7:15 a.m.: Get up
8:00 a.m.: Catch bus downtown, and then walk to Canada Place, home of government offices
8:10 a.m.: Am one block away from government offices when I realize that I do not have my current passport with me. Must have current passport. Turn around to catch bus home.
8:20: Surprised I am not crying or berating myself for being forgetful. Opt instead to be philosophical. Specifically, stoic. Stoic stoic stoic.
9 a.m.: arrive at Canada Place, finally.
9:05: Find the end of the line, which has snaked around the atrium inside. Thankful that I don't have to wait outside.
9:06: Strike up conversation with lady in line in front of me, who (along with her husband) needs a passport to go to Taiwan for her son's wedding reception. I learn that to travel to China, you need a passport that's valid for at least six months after the trip.
9:10–11:42: Wait. Chat with neighbours in line. We all keep an eye on a woman in line across the hall with her son, charting our progress by hers. We also calculate that once we get into the office proper, it's still a two-hour wait, minimum.
11:42 a.m.: Enter Passport Office. Go into pre-screening line.
11:48 a.m.: Get pre-screened. Am giving a number starting with "C", a result of having filled out my application online and printed it out. My number is C73. When I find a spot to wait and check out the electronic signs above the wickets, I see that C72 (along with A116 and B08) are currently being served.
11:53 a.m.: I am served at wicket #5. My application goes through and I pay a lot of money.
11:59 a.m.: I'm done! I'm actually done!
12:00 p.m.: I walk to the bus stop and hear church bells tolling noon.
3 comments:
Now that I'm taking LOTS of passport photos it's freaky to know how cranky (and picky) some of the people working the passport offices can be. So be glad they didn't send you away 'cause you have a bad photo (which can mean anything from a miscoloured photo to the slightest bit of glare on your forehead 'cause you're an oily skinned individual). And I'm trying not to suck at it, really.
It took FOUR takes to get a photo that the photographers thought would be passable. Also, the man told me to smile with my eyes and to stretch out my neck so that it doesn't look like I have a double chin.
Initially they were going to use the third take, but there were two hairs in my eyes which she couldn't Photoshop out (which apparently interferes when the passport office scans your eyes?) and it was easier to get a fresh take. Also, my skin was too oily (too much glare) so I went nuts with a Kleenex.
At least I got my money's worth.
Yeah, my first set of photos were ruined by my shiny forehead. Embarrasing.
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