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)?

[sabotabby]

I can do!

[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?

[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.)