Canadian Child Passport Renewal Abroad

We rate this tip A tier: if you are the Canadian parent vouching for your children's passport applications abroad, do not hand in your own passport at the same visit without paying to keep it. George Vanous's notes from Mar 18, 2026 say the office cancels a surrendered adult passport and that "your two child passport renewals will fail". Canada lists the fix on its own fee page: Retention of a valid passport, CAD 45, paid "to keep using your current valid passport while we process your replacement". Against that stand two child fees of CAD 102.50 each, which the child application form says are not refunded, and in his case two waits of a month each. The saving is S-size; we hold the tier at A because no official page we read says in so many words that the children's applications fail.

We think the retention fee is still CAD 45 after Canada's next yearly fee adjustment, while the child passport fee abroad goes above CAD 102.50: the Mar 31, 2026 increase moved the passport fees and left the CAD 45 service fees alone, and that page says the fees now adjust every year. Confidence: Likely. Check by: Apr 2027.

Why the adult passport matters to the children's applications

A child under 16 cannot apply alone, and a child's passport is never "renewed" in Canada's terms: each one is a new application on form PPTC 042, made by a parent (How to apply for a child passport from abroad). That application needs a guarantor, who signs the form and the back of one photo. The PPTC 042 form (edition 08-2026) says the guarantor must be someone other than the applicant, and for the usual kind, a Canadian passport holder, requires a 5-year or 10-year Canadian passport that is valid or expired for no more than one year on the day the Passport Program receives the application. The guarantor enters that passport's details on the child's form.

So in a family where one parent is the Canadian and acts as guarantor, the children's files lean on that parent's passport. His notes record the split his family used: he was the guarantor, the other parent the applicant, and "The applicant does not need to be a Canadian citizen, but the guarantor does". Canada's guarantor page confirms the first half today: the applying parent cannot be the guarantor, and the other parent can.

What we could not confirm on canada.ca or the consulate's pages on Nov 10, 2026 is the failure itself. The rule that a guarantor's passport must be valid is published; what happens to a child's file when that passport is canceled midway is not. That part is one dated case from his notes.

What to do

1. Decide who is applicant and who is guarantor. They must be two people. Outside Canada the guarantor may also be a locally licensed professional from the form's list (a doctor, dentist, lawyer, notary, judge, police officer, pharmacist, veterinarian, a university head or a bank signing officer), who need not be Canadian. His note that the guarantor must be a citizen is true of the passport-holder route only.
2. If the guarantor's own passport is also due, ask for retention. Tell the office before paying: the form says to contact the nearest Government of Canada office about eligibility and the fee for extra services such as keeping a passport. George's notes put it at "an extra CAD 45" on Mar 18, 2026, and the fee page shows the same CAD 45 today. Hand the old passport in once the new ones arrive.
3. Pay online first. The Dubai consulate takes online payment only, then an appointment to present the documents.
4. Bring for each child: the PPTC 042 signed by the guarantor, two identical photos (the photographer's name, address and the date on the back of one, plus the guarantor's signature and the words certifying the likeness), the child's proof of citizenship, proof of parentage, and any Canadian passport of the child that has not expired. His notes add that a marriage certificate was not asked for when nothing had changed; the form says one may be requested to link a parent's name to the birth certificate.

Lining up two children's passports

His notes say you "Can renew 1-year before expiry (eg: to synchronize child passport renewals)". The form backs the 12-month line: if the child's current passport has more than 12 months left, you must explain in writing why you are applying now, and the application can be refused if the reason is not accepted. Inside 12 months no reason is asked. He also notes the new passport runs from the day it is issued, so the months left on the old one are lost; a child passport lasts at most 5 years.

Dubai: two waits of a month

The office details are from the consulate's page, the 20 business days from the PPTC 042 form. George's own timing, in an undated note, was slower at the front: "1 month to book an appointment online (first come, first serve)", then "1 month to get the new passport after bringing all the documents to them". The consulate publishes no waiting time for appointments, so we could not check the first month. The same page tells parents whose child's UAE visa sits in another passport to bring that passport and the Emirates ID.

Never sign for your child

A parent's signature in a child's passport makes it invalid, and the family pays for a new one. Children under 16 need not sign at all; a child of 11 or older is encouraged to, and nobody else may. Canada offers a printable signature policy to carry in case a border officer asks a parent to sign.

At 16 the child applies as an adult on form PPTC 040. His notes say the 16-year-old went in person with the Canadian parent as guarantor; the form number is confirmed, the in-person part is his experience.

What we checked

Read on Nov 10, 2026: the fee page and fee-change page on canada.ca, the child-abroad and guarantor pages, the PPTC 042 form dated 08-2026, and both Dubai pages on international.gc.ca. The CAD 45 in the Mar 2026 note matches today's fee. The child fee has risen since his earlier notes. The guarantor rule in his notes is narrower than today's (an eligible professional may also sign). Not confirmed by any official page: that surrendering the guarantor's passport sinks the children's applications, and the one-month wait for an appointment.

Sources

• George Vanous's notes, Mar 18, 2026, and an undated note on Dubai timings and guarantors
• Pay your passport fee: Canadians outside Canada and the United States, Government of Canada, read Nov 10, 2026
• Passport and travel document fee changes, Government of Canada, read Nov 10, 2026
• How to apply for a child passport from abroad, Government of Canada, read Nov 10, 2026
• PPTC 042, Child Abroad General Passport Application (08-2026), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, read Nov 10, 2026
• References and guarantors for Canadian passport and other travel document applications, Government of Canada, read Nov 10, 2026
• Child passports, Government of Canada, read Nov 10, 2026
• Consulate General of Canada in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Global Affairs Canada, read Nov 10, 2026
• Government of Canada services and information in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Global Affairs Canada, read Nov 10, 2026