Tape in passport

Byron_Farrow

Morning all,

My wife's passport (Colombian) is slightly damaged, when getting a new UK visa here in China (where we live and work), the UK consulate staff almost ripped the page out, it is detached from the binding for about half the length of the page. Her Chinese residence permit is on the opposite side of the new page. It's a brand new passport (otherwise completely undamaged) so shouldn't be replaced for a while yet (and given that her US visa is in a previous passport it would mean carrying around 3 passports for her for visa reasons!) and, of course, we're not in Colombia to get it changed anyway! Oh, and it needs to be sent away for a new Chinese visa later this week.

So the question I have for you good folks is:
1. Should we tape the half-ripped out page ... only tape the separated half, not the whole length of the page.
2. Leave it as it is and pray it doesn't get any worse / fall out.

S0litaire

If the passport is damaged they may accept it for the Visa, But if it looks tampered with they will probably deny the application and you may have to do some explaining as to why the passport is damaged.

Contact the Colombian Consulate and see what they say!

[SIZE=3]Consulate of Colombia in Beijing, China                                                                      
Guand Hua Lu 34
100600    
City: Beijing
Phone: 86 - 10 - 5323166
Fax: 86 - 10 - 5321969
Email: [EMAIL="embajada.beijing@sprintcol.sprint.com"]embajada.beijing@sprintcol.sprint.com[/EMAIL][/SIZE]

They may provide a letter to acnowlage the damage and to say it is legitimate, or they may arrange for a new passport.

But I would not like to present a damaged passport that is brand new!! may be more problem than it's worth!

angel

My passport is damaged as I used to have to carry it around for ID and it got damp. The plastic that covers the photo has peeled away and it looks like it could have been tampered with. It's never caused me any problems though, I asked at immigration last month and they said that it's fine and doesn't need changing.

Voyager2002

Angel's comment presumably relates to a UK passport. Unfortunately a Colombian passport attracts a good deal more suspicion, and so things that would not be an issue with a British passport could become major problems for a Colombian.

Anyway, since the damage happened inside the British embassy I would suggest contacting them. At the very least they should provide a letter explaining what had happened, and confirming that they had received the passport in immaculate condition. It would be nice if they themselves could apply the necessary sellotape and say so in their letter, although perhaps that is too much to ask of our hard-pressed civil servants!

Anyway, what an extraordinary world we live in! A post from the spouse of a Colombian living in China, swiftly answered by someone giving the contact details for the appropriate embassy.

S0litaire

We live in the "Googlein Empire"! The Great God "google" lol

BernadetteN

I really would advise against sellotaping. IF you don't want to change passport, and that's what I'd do, then protect the passport as much as possible from further damage, pointing out to anyone who is about to handle it that there is a ripped page.

Voyager2002

BernadetteN, thank you for your contribution. It would be even more helpful if you said something about your background: my impression is that you work in UK immigration control and so actually know what is likely to happen if someone turns up with sellotape in their passport.

Byron_Farrow

Hi again,

Many thanks for the comments. We decided to do nothing, although there is a bit of a jump in my heartrate everytime I think of the passport ... I'll let you know if anything bad happens!

hammy_the_hammer

just don't risk travelling anywhere with it and you should be ok