I missed my calling as an international man of mystery

[the_siobhan]

Axel discovered on the way home from his last LARPing trip that he had been crossing the border all summer on an expired passport.

So I checked mine and yep, I have to renew both of them. Irish one expired six months ago, Canadian one expires in four. Not that I have the money to go anywhere, but it's such a pain in the ass to get a new one if you let it lapse that it's worth it to me to eat the cost of renewing them now.

(It suddenly occurs to me that now I'll have to get my English passport as well because of Brexit. And that one lapsed so long ago I'll have to start over. Buggeration. Well, that one can wait.)

So I must seek volunteers to be my references for the Canadian one. And I hope that's not a requirement for the Irish passport, because I honestly don't think I know anybody who isn't a relative.

Comments

[redbird]

This is a few years old, but when a Canadian-resident friend of mine needed to renew their Irish passport, they were fine with references who lived in the same Canadian city. (This all seemed weird to me, because the US only uses references if you don't have acceptable-to-them ID, and the passport you're renewing counts for that.)

[tetsab]

When they changed things so that you had to apply to the British consulate in the states for a passport instead of to Ottawa (no idea what the current situation is) my whole family said fuck it and started only travelling on their Canadian passport. Been doing that for a decade so far haven't had a single inconvenience over it.

What's the plus side to bothering with one, especially post-Brexit (as the only plus I could previously think of was smoother euro travel)?

[greylock]

Smoother Euro travel I think would be the big plus.
And not being seen as a POM in the post-Brexit world.

[the_siobhan]

Smoother travel is the main one.

And countries seem to keep getting weirder faster than my ability to anticipate, so there's also that.

[sabotabby]

I can do!

[the_siobhan]

Thank you. :-)

[greylock]

(I'm only mildly surprised to find Axel still LARPs.)

I'm surprised he was never arrested.
I've always heard he border guards (both Canadian and US) were complete wankers, and that was Before Trump.

How come you can get both UK and Irish? Parental ancestry on both sides of the border is my best guess.

Would that then make you a tri-citizen?

[the_siobhan]

He normally travels with his Nexus card, and that has a different expiry date.

Canadian border guards are wankers in as much as any position of power is prone to abuse. They've always been nice to me (even before I was a Canadian) but you know, privilege.

How come you can get both UK and Irish? Parental ancestry on both sides of the border is my best guess.

Irish citizenship through my parents who were both born and raised there. English citizenship from being born in London. Canadian citizenship through naturalization.

[smhwpf]

I didn't realize the UK had birthright citizenship. Well, apparently it doesn't anymore, if you were born in the UK from 1983 onwards. Then you are usually only a British citizen if one of your parents was a citizen, or legally settled. (Unless you apply).

So you are one of the small list of people I know who, like me, are citizens of three countries! (UK, US, Sweden in my case).

[greylock]

As an aside, weird citizenship laws have been the downfall of a shitload of Australian politicians lately. Some for citizenship they didn't know they had under S.44 of the Constitution.

It's a legal clusterfuck.

[the_siobhan]

That I did't know. That seems to me like it could lead to a lot more people without any legal claim to citizenship, since a lot of countries are also getting rid of inherited citizenship.

Come to think of it, Ireland also recently got rid of birthright citizenship unless you continue to live there afterwards. (They were trying to cut down on the number of people who would fly in to have the baby in an Irish hospital just to get an EU passport and then immediately go home again.) I lived in England until I was 3, so I don't know if that would count or not.

[greylock]

I have no idea what Nexus card is. Shall google anon, but it seems like if there's no passport, it's not a real border. (I mean, Nexus sounds like a public transport card).

Irish citizenship through my parents who were both born and raised there. English citizenship from being born in London. Canadian citizenship through naturalization.

I've gone from having no idea of tri-citz a few days ago, to hearing it's uncommon, to suspecting it's way more common than expected.

[the_siobhan]

I have no idea what Nexus card is

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/nexus

It's definitely a real border. Nexus is a frequent traveler program that allows you to go through pre-screening by both border control agencies all at once instead of having to do on site every time you cross. Basically if you can produce a Nexus card they know you already have a passport.

[greylock]

Clever. Just seems so unamerican. :)

[inulro]

If you have an Irish passport you will still be entitled to travel, live & work in the UK after Brexit. The Irish are covered by a much older agreement and nobody has made any noises about rescinding that (yet). As it also entitles you do the same in the rest of the EU, a British passport is definition the least of your priorities.

[greylock]

Not-So-Random Query:
Did you go to Whitby 10?
If so, did you, perchance, end up on stage with the Chaos Engine singing Kids In America?

I mean, it's the weirdest thing, and I don't have the best memory for faces, but I looked up at my screen today and wondered "what if".

(I realise, it's a long shot, but I recall you and Lee got along, and your LJ entries from that time imply you went away.)

[the_siobhan]

Holy shit, talk about the wayback machine.

Yes, that was me. Along with Astrid and Monica. (Trying to remember their old a.g names. disastrid and... I think Monica was emulsional?)

[greylock]

Wow. I think I missed my calling as a secret agent too!
I'm actually gobsmacked.

The video is here by the way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ0NBz7wl8I
You're somewhere around minute 27, hiding in the back.

I only really remember Disastrid from her million dollar-thingy and Monica not at all. But it was an even longer-time ago.

[the_siobhan]

Man, I haven't talked to those folks in ages. I should drop them a line.