The inside of my passport just fell out.
 

I have a US passport that had pages added to it last year, since I travel internationally a lot for work. At the time they added the pages, they also added some tape to hold everything together (I guess).

This morning, checking in at ARN, the check-in agent told me I should get a new passport when I get home, as mine was detaching. Sure enough, when I looked, there was no tape and my passport booklet pages wer only 20% attached to the cover/binding.

I'm now in PRG transferring to Rome, and that number is 0%. The passport is no longer attached any way. I'm hopeful this won't cause an issue entering Rome, since I'm already in a Schengen country.

The problem:
I'm supposed to fly Rome-Turin on Monday. I don't know that they will let me.
I'm supposed to fly Turin-Paris-LHR-Chicago on Friday to get home. Taht seems a pipe dream now.

If I go to the Embassy in Milan on Friday, will they be able to do (something?) so that I can fly on Saturday? (I would go to the Rome Embassy on Monday, but it's Labor Day).

Anything else I haven't thought of regarding this? Anyone have experiences with this?

Obviously you have spent so much time traveling that you are no longer an American! :D:D

This is a common problem with home made passports. Next time, shell out and buy an official one ;)

Seriously, give one of your consulates a phone call and see what their advice would be. It's what they're there for.

Out of interest, is there anything to link the two sections? E.g. Name and number on the cover and also on a visa from the inside section? That might help you persuade a border guard that this is just a wear and tear issue.

The additional pages do include a reference to the original passport number so it is possible to verify that the two are associated.

The tape is actually what the extra pages are attached to. The stitching goes to the tape and the tape is stuck on to the existing pages. I'm not sure how the tape would actually disappear - it looks pretty solid in mine - but I guess it can happen.

I can see a couple options for you.

1. Pocket the extra pages and just use the original passport. Sketchy and would only work if you have stamp space available, but you might get by.
2. Call the embassy or consulate. With it now being a holiday weekend you won't get any service until Tuesday, but they should be able to either fix or attach new pages in for you.
3. Keep the old pages in manually and just present it to the folks that way as you go.

I'd probably try #3 on Monday and hope for the best but you do run a risk of it not working.

Friends had UK passports stolen whilst overseas and they were issued with temporary passports by the UK Embassy. These were four page cardboard affairs and were valid for the single journey home - whereupon the temporary passports were taken back by the UK border guards. So if you're overseas, they will find a way to let you come back.

The US must be one of a very few countries that allows extra pages to be 'stuck' into a passport. I wonder when they will cease to allow this - many other countries have.

My advice to the OP is to just present the passport as is, and if queried explain the situation. Border guards are used to many different passports in various states of repair, and I doubt yours is the first US passport to have pages falling out.

I hope never. I don't want to have to pay for a new passport every time I'm running out of room. My passport is valid for 5 more years and I intend to get the most use out of it.

The covering over my photo is lifting slightly. This caused the Australian officials to examine it under a magnification for 10 minutes. I am hoping that i have no further questions!

I have a number of unexpired visas that i would have to get reissued in a new passport. Hmm, I think I should reconsider and get a new passport (existing passport expires 2011). What is the turn around time for a new passport in the USA? I wonder if I would be better served by going to an embassy with the problem. Can an embassy actually issue a new passport or do they just issue a temporary passport?

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Fortunately, there is sine I had extra pages added. There's a printed line that says the pages were added on [Date] to [Passport #########]. That wouldn't be there if I hadn't added the pages.

(Of course, I think the extra pages may have precipitated this problem....)

The extra pages and the original pages all came out together, so no pages are attached to the cover anymore. Oddly, the extra pages and original pages are neatly together still. (not by tape, from what I can tell. They seem bound).

I'll try my luck on the Rome-Turin flight Monday and explain the situation. I'm really iffy that Turing-CDG-LHR-ORD will work out greatly for me though. I'll give the passport line and/or consulate a call on Tuesday when they re-open.

Thanks for your help!

I 2nd that! Use it until it falls apart as we do pay a good chunk of change for our freedom to travel abroad.

Cheapskate! Given how much your travel must be costing, it seems that your passport costs are likely to be pretty minimal as a proportion of the total.

Some countries give the option of paying a premium for a large (94 page?) passport for frequent travellers, and that appears to be a better system than sticking in extra pages with Scotch tape! I admit to being rather surprised that the DHS hasn't cracked down on this as a means of fraudulently entering the good ol' US of A.

Sorry to ask the obvious, but is this something a little glue can't fix for a few days, until you are back?