Passport in the US [Archive]

Caspar

26-09-2003, 10:05

I'm off to the US next Jan and have been warned by my travel agent that my Passport needs to be 'machine-readable'.

My passport was issued is 1996 and have used it to gain entry to the US (and Ibiza :beer:!) in 2000.

The travel agent said that the US customs are changing their entry on allowed passports to only machine readable, as of Oct this year.

Does anyone have any knowledge about this? I've been on the UK gov passport website and all I can read about this Oct is our passports be updated, nothing about problems of US entry with a 1996 passport.

The back of my passport has computer type characters on it, that look to me like it's machine readable...so am confused now!

ThePinkRat

26-09-2003, 10:46

That's a machine-readable one. They have a string of characters that include the passport number and your name on the same page as your photo. If you entered the US in 2000 chances are they will have passed it over a reader and you'll already be on the US immigration database. If they can see you've been in and out a few times you tend to get less of a grilling on entry!

philip.j.fry

26-09-2003, 10:49

Originally posted by ThePinkRat
That's a machine-readable one. They have a string of characters that include the passport number and your name on the same page as your photo. If you entered the US in 2000 chances are they will have passed it over a reader and you'll already be on the US immigration database. If they can see you've been in and out a few times you tend to get less of a grilling on entry!

That's correct, I helped build some of the readers :D

Caspar

26-09-2003, 11:48

Cool :tu: ...thanks for the info....(and I'm not worried that I'm on yet another database :p :LOL: :))

bob_builder

26-09-2003, 12:40

The bit I do not understand is that I entered the US with a machine-readable passport in August 1993 and it was swiped through their machine.
Surely everybody would have a machine-readable passport by now (I had to renew that one in June 2003)?

Defiant

26-09-2003, 13:04

Why not just give them a call. Better to be safe than sorry,

http://www.ukpa.gov.uk/_4_offices/4_liverpool.asp

Caspar

26-09-2003, 13:13

Originally posted by Defiant
Why not just give them a call. Better to be safe than sorry,

http://www.ukpa.gov.uk/_4_offices/4_liverpool.asp

Blimey that's a good idea! ;)

I've called them and they've confirmed I have a machine readable passport...cause I have two lines of arrows and characters including my name at the bottom of the landscape oriented page (last page) with my photo and personal details...

She also said that the US have put back the date to only allow machine readable passports until 26 October 2004, next year.

Thanks to all and Defiant. :beer: :)

Xaccers

26-09-2003, 17:00

Talking of passports, a colleague of mine now has to get a new one thanks to Israel border control.
He went on holiday to Jordan and decided to go on a coach trip to Jerusalem.
At the border they wouldn't let him in and without giving him a chance to say "can you stamp a bit of paper and put that in the passport?" they stamped "Entry Denied" on one of his pages.
So he's now unable to enter certain countries.

darkangel

26-09-2003, 17:12

Originally posted by Xaccers
Talking of passports, a colleague of mine now has to get a new one thanks to Israel border control.
He went on holiday to Jordan and decided to go on a coach trip to Jerusalem.
At the border they wouldn't let him in and without giving him a chance to say "can you stamp a bit of paper and put that in the passport?" they stamped "Entry Denied" on one of his pages.
So he's now unable to enter certain countries. Is your friend british? what ethnic origin is he

SMHarman

26-09-2003, 17:58

All UK passports issued in the last 10 years from the UK passport issuing offices in the UK are machine readable.

The line of

>JOHN>F>SMITH>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>23091978>1>

etc is the readable part.

Nobody has a blue card backed passport anymore - they have all expired, but Passports issued abroad by consulates and embassies etc are not always machine readable - depends on the issuing machines in those embassys.

Oh and if your passport is not MR, its cheaper to apply to the passport office for a new one than to the US embassy for a visa!

I gather that they have not put the date back for all countries - Belgium has not been put back as their passports are the most insecure in europe.

On a side note does anyone know if the US employ an army of people to work through all the exit ticket parts of the green imigration cards handed in when you leave the country?

Jerrek

27-09-2003, 18:44

I don't need a passport. :D My driver's license works just fine. :P