Here it says that the passport is only valid for VW travel if it can be scanned to match:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wi....html#passport

This page defines an e-passport as something with a chip that can be electronically read:
http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/2...-0-0-2906.html

So, if it cannot be read, is it still an e-passport?

I saw a us gov page the other day which stated that if the chip could not be read, the passport was not valid for vw travel. But of course now I can't find it (famous last words!)

But maybe I'm worrying about nothing (getting detained and sent back from the US is not nothing, though), as it also seems that the rules for US passports entry into the US it that a broken chip is not an issue at all. Than again, we all know that rules are not the same for own nationals and foreign nationals...

In any case: if I pay $150 (or whatever it was, around that) for something, it should at least work initially.

DanishFlyer