Deteriorating condition of passport.

[screwballburling]

I have a passport that is getting a little shabby. It soaked up a bit too much sweat on one occasion while it was out of its plastic sheath I made up some time ago. On my last international trip an Immigration officer commented on it's condition.

If I need to get a new passport, do I have to get all new visias that are in my existing passport, or can I just produce my old passport to accompany my new one?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[bfisk]

As long as the visas are still valid it should be ok to have the issuing authority staple (not paperclip!) the old passport to the new one, and you should be good to go.

(Don't know exactly what the legislation is but i happened to see a passport like this one time, and asked the holder why, and it was for the same reason as you ask about).

[ft]

And you need to get a new passport. Even if being a US citizen probably gets you around the worst of anal retentive officials with accompanying regulations (at least if you stick to the western world), I've had colleagues get in trouble for shabby but non-broken passports.

[Checkboard]

Each country which issues visas has a different requirement. Almost all consider a valid visa in a cancelled passport OK. Some consider the visa cancelled with the passport. When your old passport is cancelled in Australia and the UK, the corner is cut off - you need to make sure that they don't damage any required visas when this is done. There is no need for any stapling!

Check the website for each visa country, or contact the local embassy for advice on each visa if you really need them, but you should be OK.