My holiday was ruined when I suffered a disaster with my passport – please learn from my mistake
A WOMAN has warned fellow travellers about a passport disaster she suffered that stopped her from going on holiday.
The Brit was set to travel to Spain’s Canary Islands with her mum but was stopped in her tracks after her identification document was damaged.
The woman shared a video on her TikTok channel @curlyscooking, sharing her holiday nightmare.
She said: “I am meant to be at the airport about to board my plane soon but my dog had a different idea.
“Yesterday afternoon he decided to chew my passport.
“Now, he is a dog so it is not his fault, it is my fault.
“But I thought because it was under two notepads that it would be ok but it is not.”
During the clip, the woman showed her damaged passport, which appeared to have nibble marks on the identification code that is scanned by immigration officials.
She added: “He nibbled the important bit and after asking people in the industry, they told me it was not going to work.
“Luckily, this holiday was with mum to Fuerteventura and she has a villa out there so we’ve managed to rebook our flights and are going back in July.
“But I am going to America next month and I need a new passport, so now I need to go to Wales to have a meeting to get a rush job for our one week passport.
“So I should get that the following week in time to go to America, fingers crossed.
“I am incredibly annoyed at myself and I feel like an absolute idiot.”
The video has more than 16,000 views with fellow tourists expressing their sympathy.
“Sorry that happened, so stressful for you,” a TikTok user said.
“Argh these things happen, at least you’ve been able to rebook,” one added.
“Your dog could’ve felt that you were going away and didn’t want that… my cat once peed in my suitcase so I had to repack,” another claimed.
According to the UK government website, a damaged passport is classified as one that goes beyond the definition of “wear and tear”.
Authorities would look at details such as the travel history of the passport, such as multiples visas and stamps to determine if it had heavy use and therefore may pass as wear and tear.
However, if a passport goes past that threshold and into “damaged territory” it would not be accepted as proof of identity.
Damage may include:
- Details that are indecipherable or if the laminate has been lifted, this could indicate the possibility that the photo has been switched
- Discolouration to the bio-data page, chemical or ink spillage on any of the pages.
- Missing and detached pages or pages that are on the verge of coming loose.
- The chip has been identified as damaged after investigation
If your passport is damaged or expired, the website claims travellers would need to get a new one.
It reportedly costs £75.50 to renew or replace a passport if you do so online, and £80 if you fill out a paper form.
It comes as families planning on travelling abroad with their kids this summer should be aware of a little-known passport rule that could leave you in hot water if not followed.
Another man was banned from entering a country due to a tiny mistake with his passport.