As has been widely reported, it is extremely difficult to get passports renewed these days, particularly in Montreal and Toronto. Now most of the issue is people trying to get them for the first time or those needing to go in person. On-line renewals aren't too bad in general. Nonetheless, it is a huge mess and contributes to the impression that the government simply can't run anything these days, especially since most government employees are now back in the office or should be. No question there is an enormous backlog in the Immigration office, not helped by the influx of desperate Ukrainians trying to immigrate to Canada. Even for minor services, the wait times are well over a year, and many people's plans are being endangered by this inability to just process visas in a timely fashion.
I'm not in any particular difficulties over the delay in processing my citizenship application, but it is frustrating how long it is taking. I went back to the website, and as far as I can tell, I am through all the steps and just need them to invite me to a citizenship ceremony. Of course, that it what I thought before. I'll then find out if there are additional steps to get the passport, or if that is included. By this time, I'll probably have to do something to update my son's status as he turned 18 while we were all waiting... One thing that I will need to decide relatively soon is whether I will wait 6 months or a year or if I will immediately renounce my US citizenship. I had planned on staying dual longer (despite the continued drawback of filing taxes in two countries), but the onslaught of horrible case law coming from the Supreme Court, the insane interpretation of the 2nd Amendment (which in itself is an abomination!) and the complete structural imbalance/unfairness of the federal system makes me feel it is time to cut my losses. The US cannot be fixed, and I have absolutely no interest in paying even a tiny tithe to prop it up. The U.S. has also burned a lot of bridges by essentially shutting down all consular services, so it is literally impossible to get an appointment to renew my daughter's passport (and I'm not allowed to renew it by mail). There's a very good chance she will have her Canadian passport in hand before we can even get in to see someone about renewing her US passport.
Anyway, on a different note, I certainly haven't been travelling much, but I did go to DC in May. I decided to make a super short trip to Boston, primarily to see the Guston Now exhibit at the MFA. Then two days before my upcoming trip, I was scrambling to find my passport. I tore up my bedroom twice and started in on the living room. Then I remembered that my passport had curled in the extreme heat/humidity of DC, and I put it under something to flatten it a bit. After some retracing of steps (from two months back!) I found it wedged under some books in my bookcase. Truly a terrible place for it, and I won't do that again! While I am loathe to do it, I may start using one of those under-shirt passport pouches because my typical move is to put my passport in my front pocket but 1) it gets sweaty and 2) it interferes with my wallet. I actually pulled everything out of my pockets to pay for lunch (in Boston) and then left the passport on the counter! Not my best day. Now I was keeping the PR card in a different pocket but that was where I would keep the phone (when sitting down). Just as I was getting settled on the plane for home, I needed to check something on my phone and apparently just pulling it out of my pocket caused the PR card to disappear. I was having a panic attack and was going to tell the cabin crew I needed to go back into the terminal to look for it when another passenger pointed it out under the seat. So that was equally terrible, and I clearly need a better system! Though I don't recall having nearly so much trouble on any previous trip. Maybe it is all just subliminal, me telling myself to hurry up and get a Canadian passport tout de suite. Of course, all I can say is it's out of my hands.
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