This is the big day.
The departure date was written in huge in your diary.
You have saved for a long time to offer yourself the trip of your dreams.
Joyfully, you take the road to the airport, checking more than once that you have not forgotten your passport.
Then, at the boarding gate, it's a cold shower: an agent refuses you access to the plane.
Reason given?
The identity document is damaged.
This misadventure, no one is safe from knowing it as illustrated by the many testimonies relayed on forums or in press articles.
One destination is particularly cited by injured travelers: Bali, Indonesia.
In 2019, the island introduced much stricter regulations regarding entry requirements.
It is above all in Asia that controls have been tightened in recent years, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore being often cited as well.
Read alsoWhat are the countries where French people can travel without a passport?
Airlines face big fines
Embarrassing as it is for passengers, denied boarding is completely legal.
Airlines are entitled to deny access to a flight if they believe that a passport will most likely be refused on arrival.
"
The immigration services generally leave it to carriers to apply the verification process
", even if they cannot replace it, underlines Nicolas Le Page, publication director of VisasNews, an information site on travel formalities.
If a passenger is rejected, the airlines have the obligation to take him back to his point of departure on the first plane.
They also risk paying a fine of several thousand euros if they board travelers without papers or whose identity documents are invalid.
Suffice to say that they prefer to be extra vigilant... "
In case of doubt, carriers can contact the immigration services of the country of destination in order to present the state of the traveller's passport
[by means of a photo, Editor's note]
and thus justify the acceptance, or not, of boarding
, ”explains Nicolas Le Page.
Read alsoHow to get your passport faster?
An often subjective judgment
The level of deterioration of a passport is left to the discretion of immigration officials.
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Problem: how to determine, objectively, if a passport is damaged?
"
The level of deterioration remains relatively subjective and can vary from one destination to another or simply according to the agent on which we come across
", he continues.
A simple smudge on the cover or a slightly chipped page can be enough to make the most observant immigration staff wince.
Objective deterioration criteria are generally accepted by the immigration services.
Tears, missing pages, discolored or wrinkled after taking in water or a damaged chip preventing the reading of biometric data are enough to invalidate the passport.
To best preserve this identity document which can accompany you for ten years, it is better to insert it in a protective case and leave it in the hotel safe when you go out once you are there.
Read alsoWhile travelling, is it better to keep your passport with you or leave it at the hotel?
No appeal possible
If you are refused boarding, there is unfortunately no recourse, neither to obtain reimbursement of the plane ticket, nor that of the activities and accommodation already paid for.
Under European Regulation (EC) No. EC261/2004, this situation does not entitle you to compensation or assistance, as it is not an unjustified denied boarding.
The passenger is only protected in specific cases, such as overbooking (when a company sells more tickets than the number of seats available on the plane) or an unexpected change of less capacity equipment.
You may be refused entry to a country for many other reasons, even if your passport is in perfect condition.
Some customs require the document to be valid for several months (usually six) after the return date.
Others require that the document have two blank pages facing each other.
Finally, a passport whose pages are exhausted may be refused if the affixing of a visa or an entry stamp is no longer possible.
It is therefore important to find out about the entry conditions for your destination by consulting the country files on the France Diplomatie website.
Read alsoThese stamps on your passport could ruin your next vacation
What if my passport is damaged?
In case of deterioration, the passport can be renewed in advance.
The procedure and cost are the same as for a first request or a renewal in the event of loss, theft or end of validity.
For the procedures, you must bring together a passport photo of less than six months, a tax stamp of 86 €, proof of address and the original passport.
