B.C. family unable to return from Iran due to expired passport | 24CA News
A household within the Okanagan was wanting ahead to reuniting with their kin throughout the globe, as they travelled to Iran in early March.
However, over a month later, the journey has not but ended, because the household is unable to depart the nation resulting from an expired passport.
Roham Pahlavan hasn’t seen his spouse and children in over a month and isn’t certain when he’ll see them subsequent.
“I just want my family back home. I have many gifts on my children’s beds and we’re just waiting for them to come celebrate easter,” stated Pahlavan.
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His spouse, Shima, travelled to Iran with their youngsters Annie and Artin to go to her mom, as the youngsters hadn’t but gotten the possibility to satisfy their grandmother.
However, the household missed a key element after they had been flying out of Kelowna — their seven-year-old daughter’s passport was expired.
“Upon trying to leave Iran three weeks later, they encountered a Lufthansa employee that right away noticed the passport doesn’t match my daughter’s and it was expired by a year. The passport photo is six years old and shows my daughter as an infant,” stated Pahlavan.
This put the brakes on the household’s flight residence, unable to depart the nation with no legitimate passport for his or her daughter.
Pahlavan has been coping with many transferring elements attempting to get the paperwork.
“It was really scary to hear that my wife is trapped in Iran. I spent hours on the phone trying to find a solution. I didn’t even know where to start as there’s no embassy in Iran,” he stated.
He has been in touch with the Canadian embassy in Turkey attempting to get an emergency passport expedited, however hasn’t but had any luck.
A journey knowledgeable says circumstances like these function key reminders to double-check expiry dates and paperwork.
“Your trip could end before it even starts. You may run into a situation where it expires when you’re gone and it could cost you a lot of money because of the additional expenses for changing a flight, for extra accommodation nights and all of the other expenses that go with staying beyond just your regular ticket that you had booked,” stated journey knowledgeable Claire Newell.
Newell says some international locations additionally require the passport to be legitimate for a sure period of time, together with three to 9 months. She recommends passengers learn up on a rustic’s necessities earlier than they go go to.
“You may need a visa to go to a certain country, you may need additional documentation like an ETA, otherwise known as an electronic travel authorization. People from certain places around it need it to come to Canada and now Canadians need it to go to a lot of places,” stated Newell.
Pahlavan says his household does take accountability and recommends travellers do their half by checking their paperwork.
However, he does wonders how the error made it by means of many Canadian airline staff.
“Allowing a Canadian citizen to leave the country, to a country like Iran where the political environment sometimes isn’t very stable seems a huge oversight,” stated Pahlavan.
Pahlavan has spent practically $15,000 attempting to get them residence. They have booked a flight for the top of the week, hoping a alternative passport will get to them in time.
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