Can You Fly With a Damaged Passport? Here's What You Need to Know

"Ravi Kumar, owner and global passports and visas advisor at A1 Passport & Visa Services in New York City, puts it bluntly: "Traveling with a damaged passport can be a real headache. Airlines and immigration authorities can deny boarding or entry if your passport is damaged, even if it's just a minor issue." What counts as passport damage? Many travelers assume "damage" means something extreme. But according to U.S. government standards-and the experts who work with passports every day-the threshold is much lower."

"In reality, that means a passport that looks acceptable to one person may raise concerns for another. Travel expert Tiffany Funk, cofounder and president of Point.me, says this inconsistency is exactly what makes flying with a damaged passport so risky and often unpredictable. "The gray area is where it gets complicated," she says. "While you may be able to travel with a damaged passport once, another agent may make a different call and decide the damage is too significant.""

Passports can be rendered unacceptable by relatively small issues such as torn or missing pages, water damage, stains, faded or smudged ink, broken or unreadable chips, and unauthorized marks or alterations. U.S. government standards consider many of these issues to be damage, and souvenir stamps can sometimes count as unauthorized alterations. Enforcement is inconsistent because airlines and individual immigration officers have discretion, so one agent may accept a passport while another rejects it. Traveling with a damaged passport is risky and unpredictable, so damaged passports should be repaired or replaced before travel and carriers checked in advance.

Read at Travel + Leisure