RandomBaritone

Got a tourist trip to Vietnam and Cambodia coming up, so I used the slick Cambodian e-visa service to download and print my visa. Their recommendation is to staple one copy into your passport, so I dutifully did so. It's a bit awkward to get a full-size stapler in there, so I had to fumble with it ... and I ended up putting a staple through not only the page I was trying to affix it to, but also the back cover.

I fished it out and finally got the damn visa stapled to its own blank page, but my question is this: did I damage or ruin the passport's biometric chip in the process? If you open the back cover and look at the interior, the staple holes are in the far lower-right corner, inside the barcode region. Where exactly are the electronics on a US biometric passport?

It's only 18 months old -- and already has our visas in it -- so I'm praying it's not irreparably damaged. Thanks for any advice.

alphaod

The chip is near the top near the spine, I believe.

I think you should be fine. Next time I recommend a glue stick though. You should still be able to use it even if the chip doesn't work.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Congrats that is better than what most people do who want to disable the damn thing. But as said, ya missed.

RandomBaritone

Thanks for the replies. I'm relieved.

As for the visa, apparently a glue stick is a big no-no: other travelers indicate that the immigration desk typically removes the visa on departure and stamps the passport.

alphaod

I see, I was not aware of that. Last time I got one of those stapled visas I glued it to my passport instead. It wasn't Cambodia though.

Yeah a friend of mine put his in a microwave to fry the chip. Instead his passport caught on fire.

flolee

If you want to be really sure you can always try to read the chip with a nfc enabled mobile phone using an app like NFC passport reader (or any other ncf app).

RandomBaritone

I don't have one, but thanks for the suggestion. I'll know for certain in a couple weeks when my trip begins.