Damaged passport
Passport is one of the important documents issued by the government to citizens of a country. Passport is considered as a permit to exit and enter another country.
If your passport is too old, torn or smudged, 99% of the time you will be denied boarding the plane to travel. Or even if your passport is new but the information on it is blurred or smudged, it will still be considered invalid.
Make sure the name on your passport matches all other documents such as return flight tickets, hotel reservations, etc. In many countries, you can only enter the country if you present a return flight ticket and a pre-booked hotel room. Therefore, if the name on your passport and the name on your hotel room are different, airport staff may refuse to let you board the plane.
A crumpled, torn or water-damaged passport is often a reason for being denied entry when traveling internationally. Lacey Montgomery-Henderson, a popular blogger, was denied entry to Bangkok, Thailand, because her passport had two torn pages. Lacey was sent to a “smelly, filthy” 12-bed isolation room while she waited to board a flight back to the UK.
Has an unusual appearance
Wearing unusual jewelry or piercings or tattoos in unusual places can also make it difficult for visitors to enter the country. An Australian customs officer admitted that, in reality, there are very few random checks on visitors, and they are often intentional. Experts will assess the risk level of each visitor, and decide whether to thoroughly check that person or refuse them entry.
Appearance is one of the signs used to assess risk. If your appearance does not inspire confidence in customs, and they do not trust you to enter the country, you will be refused entry.
Housesit for others to stay for free
The trend of exchanging houses or house-sitting is popular now. The homeowner is away for a few days, and someone else comes to help look after the house, walk the dog, and feed the dog. In return, this person gets to stay for free. In their free time, they can go sightseeing around the area where they are house-sitting.
In the UK and the US, many visitors have been refused entry for this reason. Madolline Gourley, from Australia, was refused entry to the US, for example. Gourley explained that she was coming to the US for tourism and to stay at a house. But customs said that looking after a house or walking a dog was also work. The female visitor was entering the country for the wrong purpose and concluded that she was coming to work on a tourist visa.
Madolline Gourley felt hopeless because US officials considered house-sitting and dog-walking to be entry for work purposes, not tourism. Photo: Traveller
No return ticket
Buying only an inbound ticket makes customs believe you intend to stay illegally. It also gives them no confidence that you will return home on time.
Jack Dunn, a tourist from Victoria, Australia, was once denied entry into the United States. The reason was that he only had an inbound ticket, not a return ticket. Jack presented his onward ticket to Mexico to explain that from the United States, he would fly to a third country for tourism, and then return to Australia. But the answer was still no. Jack was forced to return to Australia without being allowed entry.
