I do not want to let go of my passport for any reason unless I am entering or leaving the country. When will I be required to do this and why?
I have heard stories of people not getting their passports back after giving them to someone or putting them in the hotel safe which is located in the hotel loby. When am I required to give my passport to someone? I should think that in no situation would you part with your only resource to get you back to your own country. Am I wrong? Who in their right mind would just hand it over in a country where at every corner someone is trying to scam you or get something more from you. As a tourist, we are walking dollar signs. If you find yourself locking your hotel room door, clutching your purse, checking your wallet and pocket etc. why then do you just let someone take this from you? I think if for any reason you are asked for your passport and it is unnegotiable, give them a copy. At no time should you relinquish possession of your passport. If I am wrong in any of my assumptions please set me straight.
Reply to this In the West hotels carry your credit card number or your driver's licence or a huge amount of cash.
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are the same regarding passport. Many hotels in Vietnam accept the copy of your passport. However, ask them first before having a look at the room or making the decision if they are willing to have a copy, in order to save your time. Or, shop around for a budget hotel which charges card. The last solution, negociate to deposit a hundred bucks. It depends which way you feels better for you.
I remember for Ha Long bay tour, you have to hand it to the tour guide before boarding the junk for overnight stay, and he returns it back to you at the end of the boat tour.
The only way to avoid leaving your passport at the hotel desk is to stay at 4 or 5 star hotels which will take good care of your credit card. I think they don't have another way around to protect themselves from stay-and-dash tourists
Even in Thailand, many hotels still prefer to hold your passport during your stay and return it when you check out. I think it happens the same at most budget hotels in the third world countries.
At times I've heard absentminded tourists realizing having forgotten their passports upon arriving at the next destination. And the problem was easily solved. Just make a phone call, then go to the bus company to pick it up later.
Hope this helps!
Reply to this Thanks Pho, how about people that intend to only use cash? Can I just pay in full for the time I plan to stay without needing to provide my passport?
Reply to this I dont know the validity of this, but i have read somewere that this is also a semi legal issue as well, that all tourist must register in so they can track where people are. The better hotels are not as concerned with this because they bribe local officials
Reply to this The majority of places you stay in SE Asia will require you to leave your passport with them. If you lock your hotel door while clutching your purse maybe you need a different place to stay. Find somewhere you feel comfortable with. In Vietnam we got to the airport with very little time to spare and realised we had left our passports at the guesthouse. We phoned them in a panick and the girl who ran the place sent her brother-in-law on his motorbike with our passports. He would take no money for petrol or anything.
Be wary when travelling but don't always assume that people are out to scam you. It could rob you of the chance to meet and converse with some amazing people.
Reply to this In Vietnam I had no problems handing over my passport and got it back each time. Any scammers would be far more interested in getting a hold of your credit card rather than your passport. It's a bit hard for some south-east asian dude to pose as a middle aged white Australian. A few months after we got back home someone had a $15,000 spending spree on one of our cards. Luckily, once we disputed the transactions the bank paid for the lot. That is the beauty of using a credit card. If they steal your cash its gone for good. Best bet is be careful, not paranoid, and have fun.
Reply to this Shannabelle, I believe you can do it, but I've never heard anyone's done this way before. Most places accept a copy of your passport, so don't worry, my friend!
I agree with everyone.
Reply to this Very good points indeed guys, I don't plan to be overly paranoid. I am glad to hear of your stories to the positive side of the country. I guess I will need to get a credit card before leaving for my trip, I have only ever used cash. Thanks again to you all for the great advice!
Reply to this Shanna, credit cards are good for emergency purposes or booking flights and I agree that you have one for back up purposes but you will do fine with cash. We used ATM's the whole time and had no issues and only used our CC for booking some flights. All we needed then was the number and expiry dates as we did it online.
As for passports, treat it like you would cash and keep track of it and if you do need to surrender it say to rent a scooter, get it back in hand once you are done. A new one can be gotten in 24 - 72hrs so its not like you will be stranded.
Use good judgment and have a great trip!
Reply to this Thanks Jason, I don't even own a credit card, I guess I did't think about needing it in a country where you can stay in a hotel for less than ten bucks. I also did not give much thought as to needing one in case of emergency. I will apply for one tomorrow. Best wishes to all!
Reply to this Hello Shanna 😊
I wouldnt hand my passport over to just anybody either.
In some countries you have to hand it over to the hotel but usually you just need to show it. I usually allow this because if the hotel wont give it back I can report them to the police and the consulate.
I dont hand over my passport to police on the steet or anybody renting or selling something. I usually tell police I want to call the consulate before I hand it over. That can get rid of them if they are fake police. If I am renting or buying something I try giving a copy or else tell them I need to take the passport with me to change money.
Sometimes it has to be handed over in order to change money. I hand it over but dont let it out of my sight.
I show it to immigration official and border check people.
I always insure the mail, when I am sending my passport someplace by mail.
If I want to swim or something, I leave my passport in a safe locked with my own padlock or else give it to somebody I feel I can trust to hold. Some guesthouse and hotel owners and staff are OK. I usually only give it to ones in family run places to look after though.
If it is stolen or lost you can ask your consulate to give you an emergency document to get home, but of course it is better not to lose the passport in the first place.
Here is an extract from my blog about Kyrgyzstan, which I will be uploading soon.
The police have been hassling some of the backpackers at the guesthouse. Thankfully not me yet. Sometimes they are fake police and want to steal the passports. Sometimes they are real police and want to fine us for not handing over our passports. We try to fob them off with photocopies in case they are fake police and if they are real we tell them we want to phone the consulate or we want to be taken to a big police station before we hand over the passports. After arguing with them for a while and making them labouriously explain what they want with sign language and then saying we have no money they generally let us go.
Mel
Reply to this Fake police? Ugh, what a nightmare! Your advice has helped me a ton, for one, I am bringing my own lock. And I will be very wary of men in uniform. I grately apreciate your tip on insuring the mail, I don't think I would have done that when getting my visa. Thanks so much Mel!
Reply to this This is a really good discussion and it really made me think about how I treated my passport while away, especially now as it's almost full.
I remember one incident, when I was trying to rent a scooter in the Phillipines, where they wanted my passport for security but I refused (I think the price was a little too good to be true), and after much arguing he took down all the details from the passport (I didn't have a copy), I signed a handwritten disclaimer, and off we went. Turns out it wasn't too good to be true, as he then gave us a load of free maps, and recommendations on where to go! 😉
Whereas in Vietnam, we soon realised that the Hotel does like to keep hold of your passport so we just handed it over, no questions asked... I figure there's a lot worse that can happen than your passport being lost or stolen. 😊
Reply to this In places where theft from rooms is a problem handing over your passport to be kept in a safe is not a bad idea. I too play it by ear - most guesthouses and hostels - I feel fine using the safe - and in the places where I don't, I don't stay long anyway.
I also completely understand why small businesses want passports from tourists - it's pretty much the only thing that will make sure someone doesn't run off without paying - although 99% of tourists wouldn't dream of doing that - there are enough who do to ensure this practice continues. (Seen it first hand in dive shops I've worked at and with associated guesthouses - someone just skips out without settling the bills - and sometimes they seem like such nice people!)
Either way - it isn't the end of the world if you lose a passport - send a photograph/scan of your passport to your email address - keep a copy in a safe place - makes obtaining a new one easier - lots of hassle still.
Reply to this Thanks Ali, I wish I were leaving for Vietnam tomorrow. I am so looking foreward to putting all of the advice I have received to good use. I am eternally grateful to all of you who message back with your morsels of insight. Happy travelling to you all. I hope to one day return the favor. Maybe even give advice on my home state of Arizona.
Reply to this Here is another extract from one of my blogs about handing over my passport in Iran.
The hotel guy is holding all our passports because some nights the police come around to check that we all have visas and did not enter Iran by hiking across the desert or climbing over mountains.
Emails from Iran
Reply to this I have just spent three months travelling all over SE Asia.
I never had to leave my passport at a hotel or guest house. They all wanted to see it or photocopy it and write your details down.
Also I didn't leave any credit card details with them, either the number or swipe the card. I would be a bit weary of that. You just normally have to pay in advance.
I normally took my passport with me as well. Didn't leave it in the hotel. Depends where you stay.
But go with your gut feeling. It's normally correct. I only stayed at cheap places but never had a problem.
If you pay for the hotel and don't try rip them off there shouldn't be any issues.
Reply to this I had to let my passport out of my hands before a night bus journey from someplace in Brazil to the Uruguay side of the Uruguay border a couple of months ago.
When I was getting on the bus, the bus people took everybodies passport, so they would not need to wake people up at the Brazil immigration, before entering Uruguay. I got it back when I got out at the Uruguay immigration before dawn, with a sticker with my seat number on it and a stamp from the Brazil immigration in it. I wasnt too keen on handing it over getting on the bus, because I wasnt going to the last stop on the bus, so hoped the bus people would be available when I did want to get out. They were available and even supplied me with some Uruguay money, because I didnt have any at all and there wasnt anyplace to get some. They asked me if I had any, then swapped me some for my Brazilian money and then they both hugged me and asked the immigration guys to be sure I got on the bus to my destination when it arrived. Now, that is friendliness! 😊
Reply to this We were asked all the time by guesthouses/hostels in Vietnam to leave our passports with them for the duration of our stay. We refused as we have always been told not to surrender our passports to anyone but Immigration officials.
We simply told the guesthouses that we realised they had to report to the government who was staying there but we were not happy doing this, if they wanted our passport they could either take a copy or we would stay somewhere else. Everytime the guesthouse backed down and took a copy.
Technically, your passport does not belong to you, it belongs to your government. When we got our passport renewed here in Asia, our consul told us never to surrender it and that we should allow nothing apart from official immigration stamps to be put in it...he even said the Thai practice of stapling your departure card into the passport was against 'the rules' and we should object. Personally we are not in the habit of arguing with Immigration officers but will happily argue with guesthouse owners...who knows how safe your passport will be or whether there is a side-line of forging passports from guests of that particular place! Your passport is your only record of being in that country legally, we do not give it up to anyone!
Reply to this SHANNABELLE----First I share many of your concerns about giving up your passport. We have been traveling for over 50 years and when we first were traveling in Europe in the 1970s it seemed like every hotel wanted to retain our passport. We were always concerned but nevertheless left the passport. In the 1980s we went to China, long before China was open to the general public. We were ask to leave our passport in Hong Kong with an official China travel office for the week end. We worried about how we would get back home if the passports were not returned. They were returned. Today on many cruise lines they will take your passport early in the cruise and not return it to you until close to the end of the cruise. They tell us by them having all the passports it makes it easier and quicker at certain ports. The cruise line on our 35 day South America cruise in 2009 did issue us cruise identification at certain ports. We carried that paper ashore. I know some will tell you not to do what I am about to advise. Make several color copies of your passport, you can do this on a home PC printer, and carry those with you. Offer a copy to the next person that ask for your passport. I have found that many asking will accept the copy. Good Luck!
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