Beware this trap with your passport next time you travel
Brunei Darussalam. Just the name of the exotic sultanate in South-East Asia is enough to fill my mind with visions of grand architecture and delicious food. A last-minute opportunity to travel there lands in my inbox. Am I interested? I’m already packed.
Passport … check your pages.Credit: Greg Straight
There’s just one problem. I’ll need a tourist visa, available upon arrival. Brunei requires visitors to have ‘more than four’ blank pages in their passport. I only have two.
“Although countries like Canada, the United States and Germany only require between one and two blank pages, there are countries like Brunei and Namibia where travellers require more blank pages for travel,” says Sarah King, spokesperson for Expedia. “If you’re running low on blank pages, it is wise to consider securing a new passport ahead of leaving on the trip.”
Other reasons travellers may apply for a replacement document include change of name, change of gender, significant change of appearance “due to plastic surgery or cosmetic procedures”, minor damage or personal details compromised in a data breach. You can apply for a replacement to update the photo in a passport that was issued to a child in its first year of life, as long as the child has not yet turned five.
Replacement passports are not an option if the current passport is lost, stolen or has suffered major damage. In those circumstances, a new passport must be issued.
If you still have more than two years’ validity on your passport, you’re eligible for what the Australian Passport Office calls a ‘replacement’ passport. It’ll cost you $217 and will be valid only until the expiry date of the passport it replaces.
To begin the application process, you’ll need to create an online account on the Australian Passport Office’s website. You’ll be given the option of a replacement passport or a new 10-year passport, at a cost of $346 (soon to increase to nearly $400).
Next, print out the application and take your current passport to an Australian post office. After lodgement, prepare to wait up to six weeks for the new document to be delivered by registered mail. Expedited processing is available for an additional fee.
“Having enough spare pages isn’t as big of an issue now as it was when you had to have a stamp and a visa for every destination,” says Dean Long, chief executive of ATIA (Australian Travel Industry Association). “Australia has an extremely high value in terms of the number of destinations you can travel to without the need for a visa, so most Australians will never have an issue in running out of pages on their passports.”
This is also the reason cited by the passport office for discontinuing the previous “frequent traveller passport” which had close to double the number of pages of a standard passport. The 66-page passports have not been available since September 2017.
Long points out that it’s always the traveller’s responsibility to ensure they have the right documents and adequate spare pages.
“There won’t be an insurance policy that will protect you from a situation with your passport where it is human error,” he says.
Entry denied: Five passport problems you need to avoid
- If your passport has less than 6 months’ validity between the expiry date and the date you plan to leave the destination you’re travelling to, an airline can refuse to check you in for the flight.
- Tears or cuts to the passport pages, even minor ones, can make the document invalid. You could even be detained by authorities if passport fraud or tampering is suspected.
- Water damage can mean your passport will have to be replaced. Keep it in a plastic sleeve at all times, and keep it out of the washing machine.
- Missing pages are a big no-no. Don’t even think about removing a page. Sticky tape and staples are not permitted.
- Souvenir stamps might seem fun when you’re at Machu Picchu or an Antarctic research station, but they can be grounds for denied entry to some countries.
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