Is my passport invalid?

[freak_unique]

Right stupid thing but hey...i went out to a gig and got really really drunk...and got speaking to the lead singer or a band who i asked for his autograph - anyways i couldnt find paper anywhere so i let him sign like in one of the centre pages of my passport (fool)! Anyways basically the passport people tell me its invalidated now but i guess they would say that to make money? is this true or does it not matter as i cant be bothered to spend another �50 on a passport! ALSO could i get away with tearing the page out? as they only ever check the photo at the airports dont they? cheers :)

[GSM7554]

are you some kind of idiot,if the passport agency say its invalidated then its invalidated,they have no reason to say it , if it isnt,why the hell did you take it to the gig,if you produce the passport at the check in desk to fly anywhere and its checked,they wont let you fly with a defaced passport,perhaps next time you will have the sense to leave it at home in a safe place.

[freak_unique]

I use my passport for I.D!!!

[dzug]

Even if they only say it's invalid to make money, they are the ones with the say so, so it is by definition true.

And no - arriving in a foreign country they often flick through the pages.

Mind you you could probably get the autographer prosecuted for damaging your passport.......

[Buenchico]

You MIGHT be able to use your passport for foreign travel. (As you state, the pages aren't always checked thoroughly). However, I agree with others here. You be MAD to attempt to use it! You could spend a great deal of money on a trip abroad, only to be refused entry into the country you want to visit. No holiday insurance covers this sort of thing, so your holiday plans will be ruined, you'll already be hundreds (or possibly thousands of pounds) out of pocket and you'll then have to pay for an immediate return flight home. (If the only seats available are first class at, say, �3000 for the flight, you'll either have to pay this or spend time locked up in a detention centre). A new passport seems to be a much better option!

Lastly, whatever you do, don't rip a page out of your passport. The immigration authorities will assume that the page contained something like an 'undesirable alien' stamp and you'll almost certainly be held, in very unpleasant circumstances, for many hours.

Chris

[naz_nomad]

If you take the page out, you'll probably end up in Court

[SteveD]

Read Note 6 on page 2 of your passport:

"This passport remains the property of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and may be withdrawn at any time. It should not be tampered with or passed to an unauthorised person."

[Dee Sa]

Just apply for a new passport and chalk it down to experience, you can argue till your blue in the face but you wont be able to travel.

[Dom Tuk]

No dont tear the page. Pages are numbered and a missing page usually means that you have something to hide.

One option is you could blame your imaginary sister or brother or neice (aged 5). Say that they scribbled on the passport by mistake and that you contacted the passport agency and they said that as the defacement was accidental not to worry about it. This statement will be made by you at the foreign port to a foreign immigration officer and he cannot verify it with UKPA. On the way into the Uk it does not matter at all as you have right to enter, you are not seeking right to enter.

Also if it was a lead singers autograph at a gig it will be a scrawl illegible and can pass off as a childs scribble.

[sense4all]

I would NOT risk being refuse travel,having booked an expensive holiday ,on my wish to save fifity quid on passport expenditure. It is a big hassle- you have booked time of, spent cash and your travelling companions are going to be really peed off, over a self inflicted mistake. I think you have to chalk this one up to experience, bit the bullet and write the cheque!

On the upside the singer may become ultra famous and the autograph will sell for thousands on E-bay. lol

[Dom Tuk]

Selling your passport on ebay is a crime.

[Pomp]

When I went travelling my passport ended up having stamps in it, which weren't always imigration stamps. ie when leaving NZ they don't give immigration stamps, i asked for one and they gave me a customs stamp, and when in Argentina I put some stamps in which said that I had been to a particular place. To all intents and purposes they look like immigration stamps, and I have never had an issue travelling with them in my passport since, and I travel abroad weekly.

My point being that you can have unofficial stamps in your passport, whether this would stretch to someone's autograph I have no idea?

As for ripping the page out the passport, I wouldn't do that!!