Nadia Farha Mubin
Having a passport is a prerequisite for all international travel plans. It is the official travel document that certifies the identity and nationality of the holder and allows them to travel in foreign countries. A valid passport is also required for the authentication of examinees’ identity during some important or state exams. Due to the immense importance of this document, it is not that easily obtainable. And even after you get it, you need to be very vigilant and careful about a couple of things before you plan on travelling to a foreign country. So, to help all the travellers out there, we have compiled a list of 3 most common passport mistakes people could overlook while travelling to a foreign country that should be avoided to save time and money.
Running Out of Pages
Travellers need a stamp of approval from border officials while travelling to foreign countries. So make sure you have enough pages in your passport. A passport can have a validity of 5 years or 10 years, but if you are a busy traveller or you have to travel a lot for work and business, then you may have to face certain issues if your passport is too full. You will have to apply for Passport renewals more often than others and way before your passport renewal dates.
Some countries, such as Italy, require a fully blank visa page for valid entry, while others, such as South Africa require at least two. Hence checking the requirements of your chosen destination before travelling is very important. In most countries, you can now apply for a VISA renewal online.
Validity
Checking the validity of a passport is very important before any international trip. We know that a passport can be issued for 5 or 10 years, but that is not the only date travellers should keep an eye on. People are now aware that their passports should be valid for at least three months after the day they plan to travel to a foreign country.
Travellers will be denied entry to the desired foreign country if they turn up at an airport with an invalid passport. Many travellers have to face some consequences if they are caught violating or failing to comply with either of the above-mentioned criteria. They may even have to pay a hefty fee in return to the authorities. With passport renewals taking up to 10 weeks to be processed, the earlier you check your document the better chance you have of getting these issues sorted before you travel.
Too Damaged to be Used
Since a passport is among the most important documents a person can own, they should be kept safe and in pristine condition at all costs. But over the 10-year long life span, it is bound to go through some form of wear and tear situation. Although a little bit of wear and tear is unlikely to cause you any trouble at the airport, too much of it however can lead to a different situation. For instance, One holidaymaker was blocked from his flight earlier this week because his passport was damaged, leaving him spending a day with airport security and £800 out of pocket.
Airport officials will stop you from passing through if they cannot discern or understand your personal details or if the observation page is unreadable. This can happen if the writing fades over time or if you spill some kind of liquid over it which results in the discolouration of the pages. However, if the discolouration is only done to the cover or the blank pages of the passport, it can still be used. Other kinds of damage to the passport that is unacceptable while travelling is the peeling or lifting away of lamination from the personal details page, if your security details can’t be understood, and if there are some missing or detached pages.
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