Travel Issues on a Green Card

A

Albert Einstien

Registered Users (C)
Hi Folks,

I wanted to get some input. I will be travelling next month internationally. My Indian Passport has an air bubble on the photo page right in the middle. The lamination was a shitty job. Has anyone encountered a similar issue at any of the US ariports or in Europe (going or coming back)? Will the green card and drivers license sufffice as supporting docs? Getting it corrected at the local embassy is not an option right now.
Thanks.
 
My old passport was also terribly laminated, with wrinkles over the photograph. This also caused the page to curl noticeably.

I never had any problems for many years until I was in Germany. When I was going through passport control to catch a flight out of Frankfurt, I was stopped by the officer. It was obvious that he suspected my passport was fake. He called over two armed airport security guards who stood by my side while the officer examined my passport more closely. This was extremely embarrassing as I was holding up all the people behind me, and those that had already gone through were watching too.

After a discussion with another officer, I was eventually led away to a security area and placed in a small room with just a table and two chairs. My bags were confiscated and I was also asked to hand over my wallet, my airline ticket, and any other papers in my coat.

I sat alone in that room for about 90 minutes. There was a small surveillance camera in the corner near the ceiling. I'm sure they were watching me and how I was behaving.

Anyway, after about one and a half hours, I was escorted out of the area and back into the main terminal. All my stuff was handed back to me, and then they left. No explanations, no apologies, nothing.

Of course, I had missed my flight by then. So, I just checked back in for a later flight. In the departure lounge, I checked my things. Everything was there. There were no new notations in my passport and everything was still in my wallet and briefcase.

I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I felt very violated, but rather than think about complaining, I just wanted to leave the country quickly.

After this awful experience, I applied for a replacement passport.
 
Vibro,

I can only imagine what you had to go through. It must have been quite unpleasant.

I had a similar experience in Frankfurt. When I got off the aircraft, I along with some other guys was asked to stand on the side. The officer called for additional security and they stood next to us. Meanwhile, all the other passengers walked past us. In my case they did not even ask for a passport. They just asked me to stand aside. After everyone, including the crew had come out of the aircraft, they said, ok you may go. Very strange. No questions, no checking of papers, nothing.

Regards,
AmIinTrouble
 
Yes, it was very humiliating.

The funny thing was that I had no problems entering Germany. This incident happened when I was trying to leave the country!

It's also interesting how they make you feel so guilty, even though you know you're innocent.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I will be going thru London.
I hope it will be ok for this trip. I am counting on my
green card and driver's license as backup IDs. I will
defenitely get the passport changed after this trip.
I have also talked to some of my friends who have travelled
on a GC in the past. According to them, at the US port of Entry
their focus of attention is on the GC, not so much on the
foreign passport.
 
Even though I had many other forms of ID, the problem was that the officer at passport control was suspicious of the passport itself. Other IDs were not relevant at this point.

I hope you have better luck than I did.
 
so.... did you do anything about it?

vibro

Did you lodge a formal complaint or atleast report this matter to the mission that made your passport, such that you save your fellow citizens a similar fate?
 
Unfortunately, the last thing on my mind when this happened was to complain. I just wanted the whole experience to go away.

However, when I applied for my replacement passport, I did include a letter to point out that, due to the poor lamination of my previous passport, I had to go through this humiliating episode.

I don't know what sort of quality control exists at passport production facilities, but I suspect that every once in a while, a defective one slips through the cracks. I guess it was my bad luck to get one of those.

Of course, my replacement passport was fine. I suspect that my letter just ended up in a garbage can somewhere.
 
vibro

Regardless of where your letter ended up, I am glad you wrote a letter. As an unsatisfied citizen, it is your right to bring it up. If even 10 more people like you wrote a similar letter, I am sure the consulate would take some action. And maybe they did. Cuz' when I last got my passport renewed at SF, they did a pretty good job with the lamination although there is slight curling on the page.

I didnt mean to be pedantic but if only we Indians realise the strength in our own voices and actions, the country and bureaucracy might change for the better.
 
diavon,

I never actually mentioned my original citizenship! But, just for the records, I was British with a UK passport when this incident happened. I guess that makes this situation even more unbelievable!

Anyway, I am now a dual US/UK citizen.

Thanks,
vibro
 
ha ha. Doesnt that make me look like an idiot. I dont know why i assumed that you were. I guess because I thought India is one the few countries that lamintes the photo page. My wife's US passport is done digitally; no laminations.
 
Well, I tried to call the SF Indian consulate about getting a photo
endorsement on one of the other pages stating that the all info on the photo page is true and that the air gap is just due to improper lamination and not tampering. They were not willing to do it right away. They wanted me to apply for a replacement passport at the tune of $125.00 + letter stating why I need it. Why do I need it??(Cos u did not do ur job right in the first place) I asked them about an identification doc which according to their website they do supply. In short they told me that due to the current circumstances, they dont do it anymore. WHY have it on ur site, if you dont provide a certain service anymore. I suspect if you know someone at the consulate, they will do it for you. Why am I even surprised. Thats how things are back in India too. Have to know someone on the inside or bribe people to get things done. Living in this country for a long time, I got used to things being done efficently. Too late to apply for a new pp. Well, if I get stopped in London, they can only send me one of 2 places- India or US.
 
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