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Documents to support your identity: New adult passport applications

If you’re applying for a new passport rather than renewing one, you must submit

If your passport is still valid, you must include it with your application. In some cases, you can use your Canadian passport as your identification document (ID).

If your passport has a valid visa in it

Tell us on your form if you need the visa and want your original passport back. If you don’t, the visa could be damaged when the previous passport is cancelled.

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Requirements for your ID

To support your identity, your ID must

  •  be valid
  •  include your
    • name
    • date of birth
    • photo
    • signature
  •  be issued by a federal, provincial, territorial or state government authority, or the equivalent abroad

If you’re applying by mail, we recommend sending photocopies of your ID. If you send photocopies

If your ID doesn’t have all the required information

You can include more than 1 ID if all of the required information isn’t on the same document. To prove that each document belongs to you, they must share at least 1 piece of information, such as your name. This is so we can be sure they all belong to you.

If your ID doesn’t have a signature

We may accept it if there isn’t normally a signature on that particular type of ID.

If your ID doesn’t have a date of issue

If it was issued to you without one, you can leave this field blank on the application form.

Types of ID you can use

You can use any of the following types of ID alone or in combination to meet the above requirements:

  •  Canadian passport
  •  driver’s licence issued by a province or territory, or the equivalent abroad
  •  health card issued by a province or territory, or the equivalent abroad
  •  Certificate of Indian Status
  •  military ID
  •  foreign passport
  •  non-driver’s licence issued by a province or territory, or the equivalent abroad
  •  ID card issued by the federal government, or a provincial or territorial government, or the equivalent abroad
  •  employee identification issued by the federal government, or a provincial or territorial government, or the equivalent abroad

You cannot use your social insurance number (SIN) card as ID.

If your ID isn’t in English or French, you must provide an official translation of it.

If your ID is expired and you can’t renew it due to COVID-19

If your expired ID meets the requirements, we’ll accept it as proof of your identity if the province, territory or state that issued it has temporarily extended its validity.

However, this doesn’t apply to Canadian passports. You can’t use your passport as proof of your identity if it’s been expired for more than 1 year.

Using your Canadian passport as your ID

You may be able to use your previous passport as your ID for your application.

If you got your previous passport when you were 16 or older

You can use your previous passport as ID if

  •  it was valid for 5 years or more when you got it
  •  it’s still valid or it has been expired for only 1 year or less

If you got your previous passport before you turned 16

You can use your previous passport as ID if

  •  it was valid for 5 years or more when you got it
  •  it’s still valid or it has been expired for only 1 year or less and
  •  you submit another piece of ID that’s
    • government-issued
    • valid
    • has a common element, such as your name, to link your IDs

You can’t use your previous passport as ID if it

  •  has been expired for more than 1 year
  •  was a limited-validity passport of 2 years or less
  •  was damaged
  •  was reported lost or stolen

If your passport has been expired for 1 year or less

You can send us your original passport or a photocopy of pages 2 and 3.

If you send us photocopies, you must have them signed and dated by your guarantor or signing official.

How to submit your ID

Whether you apply by mail or in person, you can submit either original documents or photocopies with your application.

  •  If you apply in person
    • We’ll check your ID when you submit your application.
    • We’ll return it to you before you leave.
  •  If you apply by mail
    • We recommend you submit photocopies.
    • This will make sure you can use the original documents while we process your application.

Using photocopies as your ID

You must

  •  copy both sides of the document
  •  have your guarantor or signing official sign and date each side of your photocopies

Using original documents as your ID

We’ll return them to you by mail. They may be sent in separate envelopes.

What’s a signing official?

You use a signing official when you do not have a guarantor. The signing official completes a Statutory Declaration instead of a Guarantor form.

2. Gather all necessary documents and get your passport photos

Include the following documents with your application form:

  •  proof of Canadian citizenship
    • This can be a birth certificate or citizenship certificate.
      • If you have a paper certificate, it must be the original document, not a photocopy.
      • If you have a citizenship e-certificate, you must attach a printed copy.
  •  any valid Canadian passport or other travel document (refugee travel document or certificate of identity) issued to you
  •  a document to support your identity
    • This can be a photocopy or the original.
      • If you want to use a photocopy of your ID, make sure you show both sides and have it signed and dated by your guarantor or signing official.
  •  2 identical passport photos
    • On the back of one of the photos, the photographer must write
      • their name
      • their complete address
      • the date the photos were taken
    • Your guarantor must also sign the back of this photo.
    • Read the full photo requirements for more information.

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