Passport Condition

[Joshilini]

Hey,

Next week I am going to be flying from Luton to S.W France and I haven't flown for quite a while.

My [biometric] passport is not in a bad state, but a few corners on the pages have fold marks and I've tried the best I can to straighten them out. Apart from that, my passport looks fine (including the page with my photo and details on).

What I'm wondering is whether or not I am going to get held up because they will believe my passport has been tampered with, is this likely?

Thanks.

[Diver_Dave]

I've the same issue, however, I did ask
at passport control coming back into the
UK a week or two ago..

Short answer was that it was ok even if you can't
see the crest on the front anymore! A few edges
are battered in the way you describe and I was told
that this is fine and expected wear and tear, although
he did say I might want to think about getting it replaced
if flying to the States as they don't like said battered
corners again for the reason you describe.

I've got 18 months to run on mine so I'll just get it done
as soon as I can without losing any entitlement.

[robtheblade]

Three years ago I was in Costa Rica. One afternoon I decided to go fishing. Emptied my pockets and waded in almost up to my neck. Came out three hours later to find I’d left my passport in my back pocket.

The thing was completely soaked. It took several days to dry it out with many pages sticking together as well as all the stamps being washed out, with the exception of the Chinese ones, which were still perfect although the Chinese Visas had come unstuck and fell out.

A complete mess, but, since then I have used it forty+ times, many through the US and never had a problem.

[radeng]

I've had the US complain about a bettered passport. Mind you, UK immigration said they felt it should be replaced. That meant a trip to Newport, where it took longer to get served in the pub at lunch time than to get dealt with at the Passport Office!

[the_fish@blueyonder.]

My non-biometric UK passport is pretty worn too. The wording and crest on the front are totally gone. There are numerous stickers and marks all over the cover pages too. The inside pages are dirty from so many thumb marks running through it. I've never had a problem with it in all my travels and I still have another 5 years of validity so it will get worse.

As long as the picture page is readable (both by human and machine) and there is enough room for any stamps or visas you may need there is no problem.

I have heard a passport control officer at Eindhoven airport telling a UK traveller that his passport was on the verge of being refused, although the passport was falling apart at the seams and was missing the front cover from what I could see. That is the sort of state it has to be in to cause any trouble.