At 01:31 AM 10/30/05 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote:

They've said they'll fall back on the traditional "If we can't read the passport it's invalid and you'll need to replace it before we'll let you leave the country" technique, just as they often do with expired passports and sometimes

What is the procedure (or are they secret :-) for passports which become damaged whilst travelling out of country? With a drivers license, if the magstrip doesn't work, they type in the numbers. But the biometrics are not encoded, its just a convenience. With a passport, they're relying on the chip or no? (Mechanical damage to the chip should work as well as RF or antenna damage. You will have to find the chip and crack it, mere flexing of the paper carrier doesn't work by design.)