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PAE
Damaged passports
You might not think too hard about the
condition of your passport when you toss it
into your bag and head for the airport, but
a “damaged” passport can – and frequently
will be – refused at various stops along your
itinerary. Your passport could be considered to
be damaged or showing signs of wear and tear
if one or more of the following criteria are met:
• your personal details are difficult or
impossible to read
• the laminate portion on your name page
has lifted so that it has the potential for a
substitute photo to be inserted
• there are signs of fading or
discolouration on the passport’s name
page
• your passport is stained on any of
its pages (e.g.. it has ink, makeup or
chemical spills)
• there are missing, torn, defaced or
detached pages
• the chip on the passport can be seen on
the back cover
• the passport chip shows signs of
damage, and
• any other damage that may prevent the
passport from being a legible form of
identification
While “normal wear and tear” isn’t considered
a “damaged” passport, if you notice any
defects in your passport it’s best to get it
replaced pronto – and before your next trip.
Expiring IDs
Another small mistake you can make with
November 2024
your paperwork is trying to travel with a
passport that’s too close to its expiration date
– or an expired passport or driver’s license.
Surprisingly, the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) will accept an expired
driver’s license as identification as long as it’s
less than a year past its expiration date. But
if you get used to using an expired license
and let too much time go by, you’ll be out of
luck once it’s older than a year. And it might
not seem fair, but if your passport is still
technically current but is within six months
of its expiration date, you may find yourself
denied entry into a long list of countries.
Mismatched names
Got married recently? Let autofill complete
some forms on an airline site? If the name on
your plane tickets doesn’t match the name on
your identification, you’re rolling the dice on
whether you arrive at your destination or not.
Security checkpoints and airlines all require
that the name on your ID match the name
on your ticket, so if you were in a rush and
misspelled your own name, or let autofill put
your last name into the middle name field, you
might run into problems.
Another easy mistake to make involves dates
– some overseas airlines use the “day/month/
year” format on their sites, so it’s easy to enter
the wrong birthday, which can then cause you
delays – or worse – when someone notices
that your ticketed info doesn’t match your
passport.
How big those problems are likely depends
on who you’re dealing with. Minor mistakes
can often be ironed out pretty easily – but
if you’re traveling internationally, you might
have a steeper hill to climb if your documents
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