VWP Validity
 

Hi,

Long time lurker first time poster. Flyertalk for me is the font of all useful aviation knowledge so I thought it was about time I actually saved up.

I apologise in advance for asking this question as it's probably been done before but here goes..

My UK passport doesn't have a digital photograph printed on the info page at the back. It is machine readable and I have used it to travel in and out of the USA on the VWP on three separate occasions already this calendar year, the latest occasion being at the end of May. I'm off to SFO in December and on reading the VWP requirements it says that I need to have a digital photograph in my passport if it was issued after October 26th 2005 which mine is, by a couple of weeks. Have the rules changed since May and should I therefore organise myself a new passport or am I still fine to travel on the one I have?

Thanks in advance for any help! Gonna be my last trip on a 744 I'd hazard so I don't want anything to go wrong!

First, Welcome to FlyerTalk!!!

Second, are you certain it is not a digital photo?

I looked at various sites and from the data you supply in your post, it would seem that a new passport would be needed to use VWP, or a visa would need to be obtained.

This pdf file lays it out pretty well:
http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/...p_timeline.pdf

Not sure if anything has changed since you last visited the US with your current passport, but it certainly is possible that the fact that the photo wasn't digital (if true) was overlooked or ignored.

The only exceptions I saw were:
Temporary, emergency, official and diplomatic passports are exempted from biometric digital photo and chip requirements, but must be machine-readable. Note that German temporary or emergency passports are not included in this biometric e-passport exemption.

Do you fall into any of those categories?

Thanks for the friendly welcome and helpful advice!

None of the exceptions apply it seems, it's a standard passport and each time I entered through EWR, BOS and DEN they simply scanned my passport and let me in with minimal questioning. I think it's not digital because it appears to 'stick up' as it were and the page is laminated. Still I think I'll probably ask the passport office over here what the situation is with it. I go to the US regularly so gonna have to get this sorted sooner rather than later!

If you got your passport in November 2005, then you don't need an e-passport, but do need a digital photograph.

I'd be surprised if you didn't have a digital photograph, as I thought the UK has been using them for some time. Do you really have a pasted-in photograph?

Also, the UK and other VWP countries were pretty conscientious about bringing their passport issuance into line with the CBP rules (the deadlines got adjusted to accommodate various countries).

However, if you have an e-passport, then you don't need a digital passport in the passport book. Does your passport cover have the e-passport symbol on its cover? http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/photos/VWPePassportIcon.jpg

Thanks! It appears problem solved! After trawling the UK passport office website it states that we have been using digital photographs since 1998 so mine definitely is. The 'lump' in it made me think it wasn't but it actually is. I realise I sound incredibly stupid here but it's something I'd never really thought about before until I went to do the new advance info thing the other day.