I just got my passport back from the dry cleaner

May 16, 2006 2:22 PM

Does anyone have recent experience with a damaged U.S. passport? When does one need to be replaced.

I just got a jacket back from the dry-cleaner. I reached into my pocket and found that my new passport had been dry-cleaned. The inside is okay, but the photo looks a bit darker. The protective laminate is still in tacket, but slightly cracked. THe outside has been mostly erased, and the texture is now different.

Six years ago, I wouldn't have thought anything about it. But these days things seem a little touchy. Does anyone have recent experience with a damaged passport?

posted by gesamtkunstwerk to law & government (8 comments total)

Intact?
posted by fixedgear at 2:23 PM on May 16, 2006

Google tells us:

How do I renew or replace a United States passport?
If your passport has been lost, stolen, damaged or is expired, you should request a new passport as soon as possible.

You must apply in person, and you can find instructions for doing so here.

Don't even chance it with a damaged passport. Damaging the counterfeit-proof elements will only make it look counterfeit. Not worth the headache.
posted by disillusioned at 2:27 PM on May 16, 2006

Call the State Department or the Passport Office, there should be a number somewhere in the passport. At the very least they'll tell you if it needs to be replaced.
posted by awesomebrad at 2:28 PM on May 16, 2006

'Recent' expericene here, though not sure a definitive answer awaits.
posted by dorisfromregopark at 2:33 PM on May 16, 2006

My passport is a bit scruffy, and I got hasseled by the Austrians for it. (As you can imagine, these people polish their trees.) "This is how you treat an official document?" It wasted a bit of time.

Be aware that if you say you lost your passport, they will only give you a short term temporary one, to give you a chance to find it.

If it was destroyed, like "I saw it go down the incinerator chute" then you will get a full, new ten years.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:45 PM on May 16, 2006

If you're white, you'll be all right. (I wish I was kidding.)
posted by McGuillicuddy at 5:57 PM on May 16, 2006

My passport suffered "sweat damage" after I kept it in one of those travel bag things that hide under your clothing. Once it dried out, the pages were a little warped, and the laminate on the inside cover (that protected my passport photo) no longer adhered to the page.

The customs guys gave me a hard time about it (and I don't blame them--it did look fishy) and suggested I get it replaced, which I did.

So the lesson: If there's any doubt, get it replaced to reduce the chance of a hassle. Your passport may more or less still be together, but the wear-and-tear of travel may cause it to fail on your while you're abroad.
posted by Brian James at 6:14 PM on May 16, 2006

My U.S. passport started to show a bit of wear after being carried in my back pocket for the better part of four years, The laminate was starting to come off from the photo a bit, from the inside, like an air bubble had formed inside, perhaps.

The only place I was hassled over this was in Slovenia, in one out of a dozen border crossings (if you count both ways!) in the last two months. Admittedly, the "hassling" really only consisted of some grumbling and glares and a bit of extended prodding of my passport photo, but I decided to be proactive anyway and get a replacement.

I went to the embassy in Ljubljana and showed them the passport and requested a replacement. I filled out a form on Friday, had two passport photos taken down the street for $4, and gave the embassy $67 (iirc). By the following Friday they had already sent the application back to the states and received the new passport, apparently via DHL courier service. When I picked up the new passport, they punched holes in the old passport and returned it to me, which was nice because it contained quite a few stamps and visas. :)

For what it's worth, all new tourist passports are made at one facility in the U.S.; they're no longer processed at individual embassies. Disappointingly, this means that under "Authority" your passport won't state some interesting place you had it issued; it now reads "United States Department of State". (I'm not sure when they changed this; my previous passport was issued in 1999.) They also don't yet contain (as of last Friday!) the RFID chip which will go into them, depending on the report you read, soon through October this year. Cheers!
posted by cactus at 3:43 AM on May 17, 2006