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Chip in passport not working - travel to states

  • 18-08-2016 09:24PM
    #1
    Louthdrog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 116 ✭✭


    Hi, hopefully someone will be able to give some clarification on this.

    I live in the uk, on Irish passport, and plan on heading to the states in 9 weeks time. Every time I pass through the passport gates at Heathrow, my passport isn't read and I need to go to the border official to have passport checked. Passport was issued in 2010 so it has a chip, but it doesn't seem to be working.

    Obviously with the new regulations, i need chip to get into states. I was in the states in March/April on my current passport, but would have entered a week or so before the regulations came into place (but left after they came into place).

    Does anyone have experience of travelling into states with broken chip since regulations came into place? I will most likely just get a new passport but curious to see if anyone has been sent away for having a broken chip rather than a lack of a chip. Thanks in advance


Comments

  • #2
    él statutorio
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,259 ✭✭✭él statutorio


    Contact the Irish embassy in London and see if they'll rush an application through for you (doubtful with the Brexit stuff).

    Or just wing it and feign ignorance you can't be the only person who's passport didn't work at immigration.


  • #3
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,723 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    él statutorio wrote: »
    Or just wing it and feign ignorance you can't be the only person who's passport didn't work at immigration.

    Yes you can, lots of would-be travellers to the US have been turned away since April last because they had UK passports which were issued between April and October 2006 and which had no chip. Their passports were still valid but not for travel to the US.

    Vic Ryan, from Lincoln, said his family holiday to Florida had been "totally ruined" after he was turned away at airport check-in because he had an old style passport.

    New rules requiring US visitors to have passports with a biometric chip came into force on 1 April.

    Britons with 'wrong passport' stopped from travelling to US

    I can't see that the CBP people will distinguish between a passport with no chip and one with a dud chip, I'd get a new passport.


  • #4
    readytosnap
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,330 ✭✭✭readytosnap


    Why take the chance? just get a new one.


  • #5
    él statutorio
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,259 ✭✭✭él statutorio


    coylemj wrote: »
    Yes you can, lots of would-be travellers to the US have been turned away since April last because they had UK passports which were issued between April and October 2006 and which had no chip. Their passports were still valid but not for travel to the US.

    Vic Ryan, from Lincoln, said his family holiday to Florida had been "totally ruined" after he was turned away at airport check-in because he had an old style passport.

    New rules requiring US visitors to have passports with a biometric chip came into force on 1 April.

    Britons with 'wrong passport' stopped from travelling to US

    I can't see that the CBP people will distinguish between a passport with no chip and one with a dud chip, I'd get a new passport.

    Your link is irrelevant. it refers to old style passports without the chip. The OP has a machine readable passport, it just may not be working correctly.

    The CBP people can distinguish very easily between machine readable and non readable passports. The machine readable ones all have a little SIM card type of icon on the bottom of the front cover.


  • #6
    Louthdrog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 116 ✭✭Louthdrog


    Thanks for replies. I will get a new passport. Bringing a group of students on a school trip to Washington. Don't think they would be too impressed if they got to America but had to go home again because "sirs" passport was broken.

    Does mean a drive from London to Liverpool to use Passport express to ensure I have it in time. Only one post office in England has that service and its in Liverpool. Curious!


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  • #7
    InTheTrees
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    I'm pretty sure US Passports dont have the chip, so i'm not sure if US Immigration would pay much attention if your chip isnt working.


  • #8
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,723 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    él statutorio wrote: »
    Your link is irrelevant. it refers to old style passports without the chip.

    Would you care to enlighten us as to how a new passport which the scanner can't read is different from an old passport with no chip?
    él statutorio wrote: »
    The OP has a machine readable passport, it just may not be working correctly.

    He doesn't have a 'machine-readable passport' - the chip isn't working. Go back and read his first post.
    él statutorio wrote: »
    The CBP people can distinguish very easily between machine readable and non readable passports.

    Of course they can - if your passport doesn't scan then ipso facto it's not a machine-readable passport so you get refused.


  • #9
    cml387
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,802 ✭✭✭cml387


    Errm, a machine readble passport need not necessarily have a chip.
    It refers to the passport having a machine readable information page, it is a special type of text.
    The chip is a recent addition.


  • #10
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,723 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    cml387 wrote: »
    Errm, a machine readble passport need not necessarily have a chip.
    It refers to the passport having a machine readable information page, it is a special type of text.
    The chip is a recent addition.

    You're correct, the older method by which your passport could be read by a scanner involved optical character recognition (OCR) and that string of characters at the bottom of the photo page. The term we should be using here is 'ePassport' which indicates the presence of a chip.


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