I’m due to travel to California on a business trip next week. However, I no longer have a valid driver’s license, and my passport recently expired.<\/p>\n
I went to get a new photo ID health card last week but could not do so because I couldn’t prove I lived in Ontario. Although their Web site mentioned having mortgage papers (which I did have) or a pay stub (which I also had) it didn’t state that they needed to be dated within the last few months. I finally got a cable bill and a current<\/i> mortgage statement and went back there on Monday. That worked, and I got a new card, but only a temporary one. The actual one (with photo ID) will be arriving in the mail in the next 2-3 weeks.<\/p>\n
I checked with AMEX travel, and using expired photo ID, along with a current, valid, temporary ID (without a photo) is not legally sufficient. They will only accept a single piece of up to date photo ID. (Although, you could get lucky and get across the border anyway, depending on the compassion of the border guard – but I was told not to count on it. Michelle went to Florida in the Summer using an expired passport, but she flew out of Buffalo, not out of a Canadian airport – and she may have simply been lucky herself in having the person who looked at hers not notice anything.)<\/p>\n
I was told, however, that you could pay more and get a “rush” passport. Which I did. I got photos taken, and my dentist to notorize my form. My new passport will be ready to pick up on Friday. Which means that I should actually be able to go on this business trip after all – saving me the embarrassment of having to cancel (and probably paying the plane fare myself) because of something so stupid.<\/p>\n
But, through all of this, it seems to me that if you don’t have a permanent residence and\/or can’t prove that you have one it would be impossible to do anything. Which means that the homeless, among other things, can never get a health card. That seems just a little bit morally questionable to me. I’m hoping that there’s some process in place that I’m just missing that would allow them to get health care despite this issue…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’m due to travel to California on a business trip next week. However, I no longer have a valid driver’s license, and my passport recently expired. I went to get a new photo ID health card last week but could not do so because I couldn’t prove I lived in Ontario. Although their Web site …<\/p>\n