Passport Problem
 

Hey,

I am planning on going to the States in January flying in to Boston from London Heathrow. Now my problem is that my passport recently went through the washing machine. I have tried looking around websites if to this this classifys as damaged. My photo is still veiwable and the lamanint has stayed stuck down. The only things that have come off is the Gold Emblem on the front of my passport and the stamps I've had put in it one previous trips to the States. I am wondering, should I apply for a new passport, or is this still considered good condition since my information is still readable?...

Thanks.

If your passport is close to expiring, I would go ahead and get it renewed since you have some time... why take the chance that it will not be accepted?

The gold emblem on mine wore off early on... and never had a problem.

I am sure they are more concerned with the picture and seal.

GOOD LUCK.

Nah, I only got it back in 2002 so its still got another 6 years on it. So it should be ok then? :)

Long ago I travelled on a US passport that the lettering on the front had utterly worn off and many of the stamps inside had blurred beyond readability. It wasn't the result of a wash machine but simply the result of always keeping it with me while travelling through tropical areas.

It didn't give any trouble.

Too funny, I did the exact same thing a few months ago. The blue from the passport cover bled through to the picture page and made it very difficult to read and probably no longer machine readable. Since I travel to Israel alot, I figured I should replace it as they can be extremely picky about those entering their country (especially now). State Dept. wouldn't allow a normal renewal, I actually had to go a post-office in person sign an attestation letter stating how I ruined the original. I was basically applying for a completely new passport. I got the new one last week.

Question: I booked an LH flight to TLV before I got the new passport # and I can't remember if they asked for my passport number during the booking. The new passport has a new number, do I need to call LH to give them the new number or can I wait 'til day of the flight?

Waiting until check-in on day of flight is fine. But there is no harm in having it updated in advance either other than your time on the phone and a cost of a call.

In my experience, depends on the individual agent as to whether or not they will make it a big deal. I travel internationally quite frequently (150000 miles on already purchased tickets this year) from the USA to Europe and Far East. Although my passport had to be modified with the addition of supplemental pages, never a problem until once, about 6 months ago upon return to ORD, an agent stated that the laminate in the corner close to the photo was "breached". After a consult with a supervisor, inspection with magnifying glasses, etc. I was allowed to re-enter but admonished that I must immediatly acquire a new passport.

Well, after many additional trips in and out of US, no problems...yet. (I am just reluctant to pay for a new passport and go to the time/trouble/effort to get a new one when I still have two years to expiration. However, I recognize the risk and carry a second, cancelled US passport as sort of a back-up in the event some agent demands I prove who I am, where I have been, etc. ( This passport was cancelled in June, 1998 when I received my now current one.)

On my previous passport I had problems in certain countries with the "extra" pages added, but on this latest I've had no problems.

I now use a passport holder to keep it in pristene shape - thank you business class gift on Singapore Airlines!

Years ago (pre 9/11), I did the same thing with mine (Canadian). I never had a problem using it at border crossings, though its tattered appearance usually did provoke a number of amused expressions from bored immigrations officials. :)

I'd get yours renewed, though. These days, why would you want to attract heightened interest to yourself, no matter how innocent the cause?

There is no problem to check in with a different passport, especially if the old one have expired ... :D - there is no need to update them.

Sorry, apirchik, I did not understand your reply. Please clarify.
Thanks

Easy. He just meant that it is irrelevant what they have in the comp before you check-in, since they have to scan/manually enter your passport details anyway, and the new info will just override the old info.

How long is it taking to receive renewal passport in mail?

I have a Nyquil stain on my passport that has been there for about 5 years. I've been to at least 60 countries with this passport and no one has ever had a problem with it. I also had pages added in LA without a problem. Today I took it to the US Consulate in Shanghai to get more pages added and they refused, saying it was damaged. Grrrr. Next I try the Consulate in Paris. I expect they won't have a problem.

Exactly. Even, if they forward your info in advance, you are still the same person as the one in the old passport. It should not make any difference.

If you have further concerns, a quick email or phone call to the local passport office would probably be best. In theory, they should have all the up to date answers to your questions. If nothing else, you'll have someone's name to put on the blame line.

Sight unseen, they are likely to say, "yes, you need to replace." CYA will rule their response.

My old passport became quite tattered, but I never had a problem until I went to Sweden a couple years back and the immigration agent gave me quite the hard time about "taking better care of my passport". I just stood mutely and took it until he wound down, stamped the passport and let me enter the country ^

I believe that the U.S. now required that all passports be machine readable, so if the dunk in your washing machine has ruined the information you might experience problems on check-in. I would check with the U.S. embassy along with your airline to prevent any surprises at the last minute.

Stimpy,

Could you please post the results of asking to have additional pages added to your passport for the second time?
I tried for my second set of additional pages, but was told that only one additional set was allowed, due to possible damage to the passport's spine from the extra pages. I accepted this at face value, but wonder if your experience might be different, or might vary from place to place. I'm about 8 yars from renewal, so would hate to buy another if the extra pages are indeed possible.
Thanks in advance for the clarification

At the consulate in Shanghai, they first told me they could add the pages and it would take about 20 minutes. 5 minutes later they said no dice due to the stain. It's going to be a couple of weeks before I have a chance to try again at another embassy.

The first time I added pages in this passport, they added double the normal amount when they saw how much travel I did. That was at the Federal building in LA.

I got extra pages at the consulate in Amsterdam. This is at least the 3rd time I've added pages and I'm up over 100 now.

Handwritten Passports
 

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.

While hand-written passports are accepted most everywhere outside of the US, the reality is that the citizens of most countries that have hand-written passports require visas anyways to visit EU and most other "first-world" countries. Those visas are usually machine readable.

I've noted more issue with handwritten visas than handwritten passports. But it's a case of YMMV.

Irish consulates still issue hand-written passports, although they'll send your information back to Dublin and get a very high-tech passport for you instead if you don't mind the wait. I got the feeling this was mostly for the purpose of accommodating the US VWP. I'm not sure whether Norway still issues the hand-written variety, but I remember seeing a friend's that was like that not too long ago. There must be other examples, even among first-world places that don't require visas to travel most places. I think there are some hand-written French passports still validly in circulation (maybe from DOM-TOM prefectures). My impression is that it's not too big of a deal outside the US, but I'm curious to hear if anyone has experiences.