Tiny passport detail causes travel nightmare

An Aussie woman has issued a warning to people looking to travel again, after she was stopped at the airport over the tiniest detail.

A tiny amount of damage to a woman’s passport has stopped her from moving overseas from Australia.

Lindsey Gray was relocating from Sydney to New Zealand in March with her partner and her one-year-old son Douglas, who both were already New Zealand citizens.

After waiting for months for a travel permit, Ms Gray had finally got permission to move.

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There was a small nibble mark on her passport

It was only when she reached Sydney’s international airport that immigration officials spotted minor damage to a couple of pages on her passport. As a result Ms Gray was unable to board the plane.

Ms Gray told Yahoo News that at some point in the chaos of moving country, her young toddler must have found her passport and chewed on the edges.

“When [New Zealand immigration officials] saw the nibble on my passport, they were 100 per cent unimpressed,” she said.

“They told me it could have been tampered with and therefore I would not be allowed to travel.”

Ms Gray explained that as New Zealand borders were closed at the time, her passport needed to be checked by an immigration official.

It was only when she reached Sydney’s international airport that immigration officials spotted minor damage to a couple of pages on her passport. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, normal wear and tear on passports should be fine with only more serious damage preventing travel. Serious damage includes marks across the photo page, tears and cuts and removed pages.

After the family’s move being constantly delayed due to Covid, Ms Gray found the experience very upsetting and expensive.

“We had our house on the market and all our possessions already shipped to New Zealand and therefore we were effectively homeless in Australia,” she told Yahoo News.

As a result the family had to stay in a hotel while they waited for an emergency passport, which cost $533 and get new Covid tests.

Despite all this, the family were able to fly out the following day, with Ms Gray praising Qantas staff and the passport office staff for being so compassionate.

“The best part of this story is that my puffy, distressed, cry-face is now my passport image for the next ten years,” she joked.

“Please don’t get the photo page of your passport damaged in any way people. Big lesson for out-of-practice travellers here – check that puppy for damage before flying.”