If your spouse hasn't accompanied you to Canada and your minor child's passport needs renewing at BLS, you may run into a requirement for an original, notary-attested No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the absent parent — which can be a real logistical headache if that parent is somewhere remote and travel to a notary takes time.
Options the group suggested:- Ask BLS whether they'll accept an online-notarized NOC. Online notarization is accepted in Ontario, so it's worth checking directly with BLS whether a document notarized this way meets their requirement before assuming an in-person visit is unavoidable.
- If in-person notarization is required, the standard route is: the absent parent completes the NOC in front of a notary in India, then couriers the original signed and notarized document to you, since BLS generally wants the physical original rather than a scan.
Given this can take time if the parent is far from a notary, it's worth starting the process as early as possible relative to any travel or passport deadlines.