A woman has warned others to be careful with their passport after being turned away from the airport. Amy Grundy was jetting off to Thailand only to be told her passport was not valid.
And far from being out of date, Amy's problem was the condition of her travel document. She was told her passport was too badly damaged to use because it was ripped.
Posting her warning to others in a tiktok video she said: "So, basically, I was supposed to be flying from Manchester to Thailand yesterday and my passport got denied because of this rip. He told me to go to Liverpool immediately to get a new passport to make a later flight.
"They didn't have any appointments in Liverpool so I had to go to Glasgow and then 24 hours later, £70 quid down, crying so much, got a passport but then yeah, don't travel with a ripped passport guys."
She added in her status on her amygrundy7_ account: "Check your passport for any damage because you will get denied to fly, especially going to Asia."
But her post received flack from many people who questioned why she ever thought she would be allowed on a plane with the damaged document. Pebblepork asked: "If you’re travelling to countries that require a visa stamp - your ONLY legal proof of your right to stay there is your passport - look after it!"
And SayYouWillLover said: "How is your passport possibly in such bad condition?" While Auto Social posted: "I washed my passport and thought mine was bad but that is so damaged!"
However others backed her, some with similar experiences. Meg said: "Mine's 100% worse got tears and face mask all over it and I’ve traveled 7 times with it maybe it’s time to get a new one." And Amy Louise said: "This happened to me on Tuesday worst day of my life crying in Heathrow - holiday ruined."
And another poster had a whole different issue. Amy said: "My passport says I’m 45 years old I’m 17 they miss printed it, and been on holiday twice before I noticed."
According to HM Passport Office, a damaged British passport is one which cannot be accepted as an official form of identification for travel. In such circumstances, the passport must be heavily damaged or show obvious signs of deterioration.
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
