FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - E-passport requirement for visa waver scheme

Apr 1, 2016 | 6:09 am

#25

Swiss Tony

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Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: somewhere north of London, UK

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Posts: 15,269

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manx Flyer

Oh ****!

I didn't know this and I am off to Las Vegas on Sunday. I have a passport issued 26th September 2006 that is not an ePassport. I was going to renew it after this trip.

Looking at the BA website I found details that say:

If you don't have an e-Passport and you are a citizen of a country that joined the Visa Waiver Program prior to 2008, you can still travel without a visa if:
You have a valid passport with a machine-readable zone issued before 26 October 2005, or
If your passport includes a digital photograph and was issued between 26 October 2005 and 25 October 2006.
If your passport was issued on or after 26 October 2006 and it is not an e-Passport, you will need to obtain a visa.

What do they mean by digital photo? Any ideas urgently! I cannot renew my passport in time - IOM has outsourced passport printing to the UK and the minimum is a 5 day service!

Cheers

Manx Flyer (worried!)

Can you get an emergency passport - https://www.gov.im/categories/travel...ncy-passports/ - or is that not chipped?

Seems a bit harsh to be honest - if you're only making the ESTAs valid for 2 years, then probably reasonable not to shift the goal posts on an arbitrary basis in that window!

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