Why did the TSA look at my passport for so long?

June 6, 2022 3:12 AM

I've gone through TSA security checks countless times, using my passport as ID. Just now, a TSA officer spent 10 minutes looking very closely at it–it seemed like just the first page. This held up the line through security. I have no idea why. Should I get a new passport to stop this from happening?

It seemed like he was just looking at the first page. He put it under various lights and maybe the hologram wasn't showing up or something? I carry my passport daily and it's fairly worn. He then took it to two different supervisors to check it out. The second one cleared it.

posted by matkline to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total)

My last passport got put through the washing machine (I blame travel brain, our wash and fold folks were mortified) and had some scanning issues. Has your document been exposed to extreme heat or moisture?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 4:28 AM on June 6, 2022

It’s impossible to say with just one incident. Immigration officials are trained to be inscrutable. Maybe the agent had a “feeling” about you and was trying to fluster you to see what you’d reveal. (I’ve had this happen.) Maybe they had a quota. Maybe they just wanted to chill for ten minutes. Maybe your name matched one that was flagged for something.

Or maybe the embedded chip isn’t reading any more. I’m not sure if they’d tell you if it was.
posted by Ookseer at 5:34 AM on June 6, 2022 [11 favorites]

I've had trouble with a scuffed, slightly de-laminated US passport in the past. (Only when entering the US. Everyone else didn't care.) If you're a US resident returning home, the worst possible outcome is a delay and possibly a missed connecting flight, which isn't so bad. I'd be tempted not to go through the hassle of getting a new passport until it happens a second time.
posted by eotvos at 6:19 AM on June 6, 2022

It’s impossible to say with just one incident. Immigration officials are trained to be inscrutable.

TSA is not immigration. They are airport/ air transport security guards.
posted by zeikka at 7:32 AM on June 6, 2022 [5 favorites]

Does soundlike your passport has worn to the point where *something* about it is off. No telling what! Unless you carry the passport daily for regular international travel outside of Canada and Mexico, I'd suggest getting a passport card to carry instead and leaving your passport safely at home. Cheaper to replace if it gets damaged, and easier to port around.
posted by dis_integration at 9:02 AM on June 6, 2022

I've had trouble with airline check-in staff about a passport (I wore it in a money belt and sweated through it and the dye from the cover went through to the info page - probably less likely with the more-plasticky passports of today). A friend was detained for hours because a stray piece of paper had gotten laminated into her passport (back when passports were laminated).

If it's not too inconvenient to get a new passport I'd probably go for it, or get an additional form of ID that the TSA will accept (e.g. state ID, passport card, Global Entry/PreCheck).
posted by mskyle at 9:03 AM on June 6, 2022

or get an additional form of ID that the TSA will accept (e.g. state ID)

On 5/3/23 state IDs will have to be "Real ID"s before TSA will accept them (link). Every state has a different procedure for getting your D/L or ID converted into one, and it usually involves bringing lots of documentation to the DMV although a passport is the easiest way (irony!)

Personally I'm sticking with my passport for TSA security lines. I'd write off this experience as a one-time thing and forget about it.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:00 AM on June 6, 2022