I will be using my passport this winter, and on checking it I see that it will expire 10/2010. I have a few questions that perusal of the various passport web pages have not answered.
When my passport is scrutinized by an “official” what are they looking for?
What if I look nothing like my picture? Say the day after I get my pic taken I decide to cut my long hair, remove my facial hair, trade glasses for contacts, etc.
Can I apply for a new passport now (13 months before it expires)?
“What was the nature of your trip to X?” I have often been asked this, and typically just say “vacation”. What if I reply, “Wanderlust”? Is there any wrong answer?
On question 4, there certainly are some wrong answers. For example, if you don’t have the right employment visa, “I’m going to take up a job” is not a good answer to give.
your passport doesnt expire when you think it does!—It becomes useless 6 months earlier than the “official” date of expiration.
Many countries won’t let you use a passport if it will not be vaild for the next six months.The supposed logic behind this is that you cannot begin a trip unless your passport will be valid when you return.So if you dont have a full 6 months ,some countries won’t let you . (And other countries won’t let their own citizens leave if the passport is due to expire.)
They are looking for a number of things, from alterations and damage that might indicate a false passport to the stamps in your visa from other countries. For example, if you have a stamp in your passport from Israel, you may not be allowed entry to a number of other Middle Eastern countries, or if you have made a trip to Sub-Saharan Africa you may be asked to show proof of immunization from Yellow Fever.
If you don’t look like your picture, you may be subject to more through scrutiny. YMMV.
It shouldn’t be a problem to apply to renew your passport. If you are taking a trip, many countries require that your passport be valid for at least 6 months beyond the date of entry.
If you start getting clever with responses, you may be subject to additional scrutiny. It is often not pleasant. I’m about as mild mannered guy as you get, and the infamous Heathrow border security types tore me a new one when I misunderstood their question, “Are you traveling with anyone?” For whatever reason, I thought they were asking if I was traveling with a family member. My girlfriend behind me in line got a dirty look and a demand to join me at the counter, and I got chewed out.
Examples of particularly poor answers are things like saying you’re traveling for business but won’t describe the business, saying you’re looking for a job or going to school, saying you have no idea where you’re going or how long you intend to stay, and so on. Like I said, each country has its own particular concerns on different answers.
In other words, follow the SDMB rule. Don’t be a jerk. Customs and immigration folks can jerk your chain in more ways than you can ever imagine if you play games with them.
Years ago aboard a British Airways flight from Heathrow to O’Hare, aboard was a school group returning from a school trip. Typical college age, except a few got under the skin of the flight attendants. (This was before it became de rigeur for almost all airline passengers to be rude, crude and socially unacceptable while flying today.) In this case, during the flight several of these students attempted to draw the attention of the flight attendants by snapping their fingers and selected vocalizations. Not a bright idea.
When we arrived at O’Hare, the group was separated from the rest of the passengers (standard practice) at passport control. However, in the immigration hall, every one of the students had their luggage hand searched. However, every student in the group (male and female) was also strip-searched, for all the world to see. There were loud protests but they were ignored.
The rest of us passengers only received cursory questions and inspections since most of the customs and immigration staff were too busy with these idiots. I asked one of the flight crew going through with us what was happening and why only them. All these years later I still remember the answer, “Don’t mess with a flight attendant,” followed by one of those gotcha! smiles.
I can imagine that a flight attendant MAY have some pull with getting some abusive passenger extra attention from a customs agent, but a public strip search is pretty hard for me to swallow…
I’ve renewed my passport eleven months before it was due to expire. (I was going to live in France for a year, and you need it to be valid for six months after you intend to leave.) I don’t think it matters at all when you do this. The State Department invalidates your old passport, so it’s not like you have two at a time or anything.
I’d wager that saying “vacation” is probably the best thing you can say to passport people if it’s even remotely close to being true. It means you’re coming to the country, spending money, and leaving. They love this. If you have the appropriate visa for something, then say so, in a friendly way, but without too many details. I would say not to say anything that stands out, since it gets the agents to think a bit too much about you might mean. Once, when I was unaware that they were asking “real security questions,” I thought they were making casual conversation, and so when they asked me if I had packed my own bags, I responded, “Could you tell?” because I had tried to cram something into a duffel bag that was longer than the bag was and so the bag did not look remotely cylindrical. Anyway, they apparently thought that I have meant that I had not packed the bag, but wanted it to look like I had, or something along those lines, and it got me five more minutes of questions. Nothing else happened, but all the same, stick to basic answers.
I’m pretty sure “wanderlust” is the wrong answer. They will likely just have no idea what you mean, which isn’t really the position you want to be in. Like you’ll need to explain it, and then explain why you are being cute.
I am certainly willing to take you at your word, but to me (who has travelled internationally quite a bit in the past couple years) its almost inconcievable that they would strip-search people in full view of other travelling passengers (as opposed to other customs agents)…
That said, I bet the asshole college students (and in my mind’s eye there were a few hot, stuck-up sorority girls forced to strip) learned to not treat flight personnel as servants. (I am with you that many passengers have become even more arrogant and unpleasant in the past, but thats a different story).
I think that’s what led to our revised personal search policies–there are private rooms for other than immediate patdowns, and supervisor approval is mandatory for clothing removal.
And, yeah, be as direct and clear as you can when giving your declaration. Don’t waste the officer’s time with cute answers.
I am not sure I understand what you are saying…
Were strip-searches, (with the necc. supervisors approval) ever performed in front of other passengers???
In the United States, a man who had run for President was given a routine search at the airport. They were searching by the numbers back then and he was the “lucky” fellow.
On another occasion, Senator Ted Kennedy was kept from flying because there was someone named Edward Kennedy on the “No Fly List.”
A solid as a rock wealthy Republican business man and his wife that I knew were banned from flying for a year or two because he became impatient in line and said a couple of words that he shouldn’t of.
Many things, you may need a visa to visit said country (unless there is an agreement between your countries), your port of embarkation etc.
2)Extra secrutiny, but the passport has other features besides your picture to verify your identity.
Depends on your countrys policy but usually yes.
Answer the question that is asked, don’t give extra information.
PS: None of the above applies to the US Immigration Officers they are a breed unknown.
Unless you’re a professional humorist, I’d avoid trying to be funny, too. Immigration and Customs officials don’t appear to have a sense of humor.
Do you have a sense of humor? Were you required to suppress it on the job? Or are the things people say to try to be funny to customs officers really that lame, especially after you’ve heard them a few hundred times? Or did the job really suck, and that’s why none of the customs or immigration people I’ve seen looked happy?
I had to apply for a new passport (Swedish) the other year because my old one was locked up in my ex GF’s weapon cabinet. On earlier occasions with non expired passports the person who handled the matter had just been able to make a note and the old passport was no longer valid, but not so this time. Before I collected the new one (or even before I handed in the application, I don’t remember) I had to go to the front desk at the other end of the police station and report that my passport was missing and answer all sorts of questions about where and when I had last seen it etc. Ridiculous, I say!
Amen to that. I have traveled with my kids a few times (divorced guy here). I always have a notarized letter from their mother stating that she knows about the kids traveling with me.
Entering Canada the man separated and questioned the three of us. When he asked me if the kids’ mother knew about the trip, I answered honestly, but also made a remark about her (deserved). The questioning took some additional time.
I can give an anecdotal resply to 2. I have lost at least 60lbs since mine was taken, I am much, grayer and always wear my glasses on a flight, because I don’t like to sleep with my contacts in.
No one has ever even even glanced up to compare my pic to what I look like.