A young French woman with a French passport issued in 2006 was denied boarding on her flight to California last Sunday because her passport could not be read electronically. She was coming to spend the month of August with us. Her French travel agent never told her about this requirement, and she assumed her passport was OK. The US requires all passports to be able to be read electronically, or else the person must have a visa to visit the USA. Getting a US visa is probably much harder than getting a new passport in your own country. Just thought I'd warn any future visitors.

You are going to post this on the other boards, right?

This has been a requirement for at least 18 months. Her passport may have been issued in an unusual place because most all of the EU understands this.

I'm w/ Ag3046. As far as I know this has been the rule for quite a while. There have been several threads on the Europe forum complaining about it.

Yep, and the retaliation is beginning. By this time next year, we may all need visas to visit EU nations.

If you think there was a furor over the length of time it took to get a passport, having to get visas for Europe should touch off a real ruckus, one that will do us no good.

The new regulations are working!!!

We have been protected from yet another young French student!

One who probably had four ounces of toothpaste in her carry-on bag! And the deadly contact lens solution!

Yes, I know its been the law for a while, but it was very upsetting for her to get as far as Amsterdam for her flight only to be turned away and returned home. Why the airline agent let her board in the S. of France and check her luggage through to SF is a mystery!! She never knew that her passport was not in order. I posted this so that other Europeans might check that their passport could be read electronically. After all, this young woman's passport was issued in 06, so its a new one. Her father travels to the US regularly on an old passport without either visa or being read electronically. Go Figure!!