Surrey Service Canada Centre - Passport Services

Needed my passport by the end of day. Camped out at 4pm day before to be first in line. Sat through the rain and cold. Got let into the office and waited 4 more hours ti speak to someone. Once I did I was dealt with in 20 mins and got my passport 2 hours later. The people are pretty sympathetic to your plight. None of them are happy that people are resorting to camping out all night. I found everyone to be fairly respectful and doing their best ti help everyone. If you are desperate get your paperwork in order and camp out overnight. It’s not fun but it’s worth it. Was a memorable experience. I hope I don’t need to repeat it anytime soon.

I visited the Surrey Passport Office today. I needed a certified true copy of my passport. I had read reviews on line many were of the extremely long lines and people arriving at the office 2 1/2 hours before the office was open to insure getting in to see an agent. I went at 2 pm basically to check out where the office was and to see what the lineup looked like. I fully intend to go back Monday morning. There was a sign saying they were all booked for the day. I decided to ask one of the staff there what I needed to do to get a certified copy of a passport, to my surprise she told me to wait to the side. I was elated that I wasn't told to come back another day. After waiting 10 minutes she gave me a form and told me to come back after I filled it out. After filling out the very short form, I was told to go inside. I was given a number and told to wait to be called. I was there a total of 2 hrs. I am extremely grateful. Thank you to the staff at the Surrey Passport office. They were very friendly, helpful and from what I experienced, very organized. Thank you again.

I gotta to say the staff at the passport office especially Fred made sure we got our passports today before we flew out tomorrow am. They were find to my situation and they really went above and beyond to help make sure my boys would not be disappointed that their trip was canceled. Best advice don't trust that the 1800 number actually sent your transfer. People were in and out so fast small lines today. Big thank you to Fred and all the staff and security guards for their tireless efforts to get it done.

What a complete nightmare! The whole passport system is chaos and no one knows what’s going on. I applied back on March 7 and my daughters passport was suppose to arrive on April 10 and the Service Canada agent told me no problem to get it for that date. I even told him why don’t you take my travel confirmation but he said not to worry. Well then in April the backlog started and no passport so I called and called 1800 line and they said nothing has been done and to call back closer to the travel date. I called 10 days before our travel (flights etc all booked in March when I applied and advised “no problem”) and they said they would transfer the file to Surrey and that an agent from Surrey would call 4 days before the travel date to confirm our itinerary. I got a call on the Monday and he said I had to fax the documents, yes fax! Who faxes in 2022??? Anyway I rushed to staples and Passport Canada Surrey had their fax machine turned off so luckily I saved the phone number when he called and power called the line and they answered. They confirmed our travel plans and said passport would be ready for Thursday and to expect a call. Meanwhile I was concerned so called the 1800 and they kept saying Surrey did not accept the transfer of file request. So I went on Thursday and rushed to the front (poor security guards don’t even know what’s going on). I waited and waited and the agent told me the passport is getting printed in Ontario and that this was a problem. I expressed my concerns that the passport is needed by Friday as we leave in the evening. They sent me home and said wait for a call on Friday. Ask for the managers number if your in these shoes as I called her first thing Friday and she was escalating the matter and said not to worry. Long story but finally at 4pm Friday we got our daughters passport and could move forward with our family flight plans. Passport Canada needs a better system in place to track and monitor applications, always best to go to a passport office as they print in house. Kids should have an easy renewal process, same with adults. If you had a passport before it should be straightforward. The 1800 line is pointless as they are not advised specifically to each passport application so a waste of a call. The manager stepped up and helped but I missed three days of work!Good luck!

Truly the worst run place I've ever seen. I was unable to make an appointment because they would never reply to calls to confirm an appointment, and I'm ina hurry. I arrived 2.5 hours before the service center opened and forced to wait outside in the cold for 2.5 hours. Guys at the front waited from 4am. At least some of the people waiting were nice. Gave out coffee free while we were outside (other waiters, not staff) At 11am I'm inside waiting for another 1.5 hours so far. There is 2, yes 2 staff working. Lineups like crazy with people OBVIOUSLY not going to make it in. No organization, no one cares either.

Since these reviews were helpful to me in figuring what to do with my son’s passport renewal I thought I would add my experience today. I was just dropping off the application for pick up in 2 weeks so all was straightforward. I arrived in the line up outside in the parking lot at 10 am and was done at 3pm. I recommend bringing enough water if it’s hot and if you have a lunch or snack to eat in the outside line because they don’t allow food inside the office itself. Line was 2.5 hours outside and 2.5 inside. It’s not a lot of shade. I suspect arriving around noon may be okay still. The line dwindled through the day. The service was nice enough given how busy they all are.

I went there today to get an expedited passport. If you need a same day passport, please get there by 6am and join the lineup. Here is a timeline of my experience as a tool to help others.. 3am - I arrived and parked along side about five other vehicles. It appeared no one wanted to start a line yet cause it was too cold outside. 5am - More people showed up ready to wait in line. Everyone got out of their cars and somehow we all lined up in order of arrival. It was very Canadian and everyone was polite. At this time there were maybe 20 people in line. 6am - the security guard came over and made us move to another location that was not on mall property (no loitering) so we moved. There were maybe 50-60 people in line now. 730am - they moved the line back near the entrance and separated us into two lines. By now there were about 100 people in line. 830am - one line went in immediately and then within minutes the other line was moved inside. 840am - I was inside the center and was at a help desk, given a number. 845am - my number was called and a lady helped with my urgent passport request. 9am - She was done and I was allowed to leave. When I left there was only a short line directly outside, so most people had been allowed in and were being helped. There were no more people waiting outside the mall. Overall, everyone was very calm and friendly. The whole experience is a little ridiculous and I wish we didn't have to arrive so early in order to leave in a reasonable amount of time.

I requested a transfer to the Surrey Passport Office on May 17 via the 1-800 line and I received a call from Nav from the Surrey Passport Office on May 20th to fax proof of travel (just a fake “airplane ticket” that I “want to book”) I faxed the proof of travel for June 1st ASAP at a Canada Post office after the phone call and after that I received no call back. As my travelling date was approaching I called them and they said that they’re processing my application and I would receive a call back on the 27th, 30th or 31st of May to pickup my passport. I was relieved, but with my “travel date” approaching I still didn’t receive a call back to pickup my passport. On June 1st, the day I was supposed to “travel” I called them again and I said my passport receiving officer name Nav to the call taker to expedite my application (you must say the PRA’s name if you want to get it expedited, I didn’t say his name before, that’s why my application wasn’t being processed) The call taker said “ok, I will transfer your words to him” and within an hour I got a phone call from a very nice, kind, warm-hearted, compassionate and sympathetic passport receiving officer named Alice, and she told me that unfortunately they still haven’t received my transfer request. I asked why and she says it’s because there are too many transfer requests coming out east, and she says they cannot predict how long a transfer request takes. She said that if I come in with a second application with new passport photos she would waive the urgent processing fee and the $45 transfer fee and that I won’t need to show new proof of travel. I was beyond happy and grateful, and I thanked her for going above and beyond in assisting me and for working hard during these difficult circumstances. I came in the next morning on June 2nd at 8 am, and the office opens at 8:30. I said to the security guard that Alice called me, and she told me to go to the pre-screening line. I was checked in, handed in my second passport application, gave me a green slip stating to pickup the passport tomorrow (June 3rd) at 2:30 pm and by 9:30 am I was out the door. Out of 20 booths 18 were opened that morning (before it was only 3) Alice was very enthusiastic, compassionate and sympathetic with me! And I got my new passport the next day in no time, and they charged my CC the $20 pickup fee electronically. Thank you Alice for going above and beyond for helping me in expediting my passport and for waiving all fees! Best of luck to everyone getting your new passport! (PS, if you want to have a passport but don’t want to book a flight, just show any “airplane ticket” without payment confirmation as proof of travel and you will get your passport the day before your “flight”)