I have a British passport from 2006 September and going to Florida. The passport in has camera symbol. Is it valid?
I am going to Florida in a few days. I have a British passport that I acquired in September 2006. It has a "camera" symbol on front and is biometric. Just seen news items that only passports from October 2006 or later will be accepted by the USA. Is my passport valid for travel to the USA? I do have a valid ESTA.
Best Answer
I believe you are referring to an article similar to this one from The Guardian which the British media have been reporting since 5th May 2016.
You are right in thinking that the US 'may' turn away British passport holders if they do not have a biometric passport. However it sounds like you do have a biometric passport which were first issued in the UK in Spring 2006 so you should be fine. If you have this symbol on the front of your passport then it is biometric.
If in doubt I would contact your local passport office to clarify. There are several around the UK. If there is an issue then the passport office can create a new passport the same day (at a cost) in time for your pending flight to the US. It sounds like there is some confusion with dates being reported by the British media.
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Can I travel with my old passport?
Use your old passport and you will be able to travel anywhere as long as there is 6 months validity remaining. Might be different for each country. In the US they take your old passport while processing the new one. They send both to you, but the old one has holes punched in it to invalidate it.What is the biometric symbol on the passport?
What does a biometric passport look like? The simplest way to tell if your passport is biometric is by looking at the cover. If there's a small, gold camera logo at the bottom, then it's biometric.How do I know if my passport is valid?
Your old passport will be couriered to you and your new one will arrive in a separate courier. This is to mitigate the risk of one of the documents going missing. It should be noted that even though you will receive your old passport back, you will not be able to use it again as an official travel document.Britons still with red passports told to check before leaving UK or you may be caught out | bre...
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