I may be wandering beyond the scope of the thread, but does anyone know the state of hand-written, non-machine readable passports outside the US? My non-US passport is low-tech and totally hand-written (a consulate issued it). It's clear that US CBP wouldn't accept it for the VWP, but that doesn't affect me since I'm a US citizen, too. I'm just curious about other parts of the world. While the US passport provides pretty good access around the world, it can also involve higher visa fees and other inconveniences. I suspect this issue may get worse as CBP cracks down and requires biometric passports, etc. of foreign visitors. And yet I'd rather pay a higher visa fee than get detained for having a questionable document.