Check your Passports..

[boatman61]

Something off interest to all of you out there considering a trip to the US ofA few folk have had their holidays/trips stopped cold at the airport as a result of this unannounced change by the Dept of Homeland Screwups...

[quote]
British travellers face a nasty surprise if they try to travel to the U.S. - after the country quietly made changes to entry requirements.

Under new rules introduced on April 1, travellers to the country must have an e-Passport to travel under the normal visa waiver programme.

This means that people who have an older passport - thought to affect 400,000 people in the UK - will not be allowed to fly to the U.S. [quote]

I'd suggest all non-US cruisers check their Passports validity regardless off nationality as it would be a real pisser to sail or fly hundreds or thousands of miles only to be turned around..

[Jdege]

"Not allowed to fly", or "not allowed to fly under the visa waiver program"?

The way I read this, they'd either need to update their passport, or obtain a normal visa.

Either would be aggravating, if you weren't aware of it until you showed up at the airport.

[valhalla360]

I suspect there is more confusion than anything else. Sure looks like if you have an old passport, you are covered. Did the UK offer e-passport as a cheaper option after 2006? From the Homeland Security Official webpage:

U.S. e-Passport Requirements

The United States requires that travelers entering the United States under the Visa Waiver Program have an e-Passport if their passport was issued on or after October 26, 2006. Additional information on VWP e-Passport requirements.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Something off interest to all of you out there considering a trip to the US ofA few folk have had their holidays/trips stopped cold at the airport as a result of this unannounced change by the Dept of Homeland Screwups...

E-passports have been required for many years but there was an exemption for passports issued before 26 October 2006 and this exemption has ended.

The bulk of EU countries started issuing e-passports on or around 26 October 2006.

The US requirements and the EU implementation conveniently started on the same date.

The US exemption for non e-passports ended 6 months before the 10th anniversary of the e-passports implementation. This makes sense, since your passport should have 6 months expiry when entering most countries. So in theory, anyone from the EU travelling after April 1st should either already have an e-passport or have less than 6 months expiry and therefore should be getting a new passport before flying.

This is not an unannounced change, it's probably been known since the US & EU agreed on the 26 October 2006 start date.

Did the UK screw up and continue issuing non e-passports after 26 October 2006?

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Jdege

"Not allowed to fly", or "not allowed to fly under the visa waiver program"?

The way I read this, they'd either need to update their passport, or obtain a normal visa.

Either would be aggravating, if you weren't aware of it until you showed up at the airport.

I'm pretty sure there must be something in the ESTA process that highlights the need for e-passports. I know I specifically checked my passports when I did my ESTA a few years ago.

[valhalla360]

Now I'm curious as to the source of the original quote.


I wasn't thinking about the 10yr life of a passport. My guess is someone didn't check that it was valid 6 months after their return date and were told they couldn't fly and it was probably also pointed out as a side issue that the old passport isn't an e-passport.

[four winds]

Text search shows Tumblr, Yahoo news, and Facebook as the top three hits for the source.

[boatman61]

Just passing on something from an indignant family in the UK.. and its in the media.
I usually have to get a new one before the old ones expired coz I've run outa clean visa pages.. currently on my 2nd E-Passport

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Now I'm curious as to the source of the original quote.


I wasn't thinking about the 10yr life of a passport. My guess is someone didn't check that it was valid 6 months after their return date and were told they couldn't fly and it was probably also pointed out as a side issue that the old passport isn't an e-passport.

According to wiki, the UK introduced e-passports in March 2006, well before the US start date, so all valid UK passports should be e-passports already...

The plot thickens

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Just passing on something from an indignant family in the UK.. and its in the media.
I usually have to get a new one before the old ones expired coz I've run outa clean visa pages.. currently on my 2nd E-Passport

Your "Check your Passports" message should apply to everyone going anywhere at anytime

[ryon]

Just say that you're hot to vote in the November election, and you're in like Flint.

[MarkJ]

I think to get a B1B2 you need an e-passport anyway. So it shouldn't affect sailors.

10 year old passport in the news article may also have been within 6 months of expiry.

Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.

[Broken-Sailor]

Just a guess, but and it might not be the case for this issue, but about a month or two ago there was news reports here about fake passports and visas showing up mostly with the refugees when they entered the country. This might have prompted the change in some of the rules.

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