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Damaged Passport Question?
Death Cab For Albie
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey all,
Anyone know how damaged a passport has to be to be considered unusable? I was supposed to go out of the country next week, and yesterday my dog got a hold of my passport and did a number to the cover. I've included a picture of it with this post, is it too damaged to be accepted now?
Anyone know how damaged a passport has to be to be considered unusable? I was supposed to go out of the country next week, and yesterday my dog got a hold of my passport and did a number to the cover. I've included a picture of it with this post, is it too damaged to be accepted now?
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From the photo you're probably OK unless you get a noteably picky person checking you out.
EDIT: Basically the most important part are the bio pages. If any of the text describing you is fucked up, or the page is peeling, you might have an issue.
The damage doesn't look too bad to me, and if everything on the inside is still perfectly readable it would be reasonable to say that the passport is valid, but airports tend to be their own little kingdoms where the strictness of the rules depends on whether the customs agents / gate security folks had a bad weekend or not.
Were it me and that option were available, I'd take the guaranteed day wasted getting a new passport over the chance of being turned away at the airport.
i would replace it as soon as possible.
but if the interior is ripped/chewed in similar character to the exterior I'd probably replace it just to avoid some customs official looking sideways at you (especially if you're trying to get back into the country.)
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I've looked up getting one expedited, but other than costing about $400 when it's all said and done, it requires a birth certificate. Unfortunately, I don't have mine, and it would take 2 weeks or so to get one.
Yea, I was originally going to try and replace it, but from a time perspective, it's impossible to do before my trip.
Do you live near an actual passport office? I took care of it pretty easily, and received a brand new one in a week, but that's because I was able to walk into the San Francisco Passport Office and get everything taken care of through there.
I'd recommend just going through the "renewing your passport" procedure instead of assuming your old one is completely borked for any purpose whatsoever. That way, you don't need a birth certificate, and can just show your Driver's License and turn in your old passport directly to the passport office. They are almost certainly reviewing the passport to ensure it isn't a counterfeit while they are holding it, so I doubt you will have any issues with that given you are turning in the real deal. (When you pick up your new passport, you also get the old one back - they just hole punch it so it's no longer usable.)
The whole thing cost me about $150, expedited, including new passport photos. The additional peace of mind is probably worth it, if you really are concerned. Even if it's like a 1.5-2 hour drive, I'd say it's worth it.
Each passport office does have their own requirements, though, so it helps to call in to ask what might be required to get an expedited passport request beyond what is shown on the government website. You have to call in to schedule an "appointment" anyway.
As someone who works international flights, I can tell you that if your passport won't scan because of the damage near the barcode at the bottom, they can refuse transport. Even if they allow you to get on the aircraft, if you arrive at customs and it doesn't scan, they might hold you.
Is the picture distorted at all?
In the end, unless it's pristine it will likely be a question left to the customs agents. My concern would be the damage to the book cover because that is where the passport contains the RFID chip.
Not sure. It's about 10 years old.
But yea, it seems like it's basically going to come down to the customs officials and whether or not they feel like being dicks.
This.
Tsa and ticket agents can give their opinion but it all comes down to customs. I suggest tucking a 50 inside it so it falls out when you give it to the customs agent
Seriously, don't do that.
The chips were added in 2006, 2007.
It's new enough, it's got the newer style fancy background.
I have one that just expired this year, has a plain blue background.
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