what you went thru with va was typical POME over reaction

my passport (non us) is in decrepit condition, you can barely see the coat of arms/wording on the front cover. threads starting tear at corners, 1st page starting to come away from the threads/seams, couple dog eared visa pages, massive/obvious 3cm dog ear at corner of the photo/id page

never had an issue in anywhere. well, except canada but cbsa agents have hissy fits over anything. previous us imm agent actually laughed at how worn out it was, lamented that his wasn't as traveled.