A minor flaw on her Australian passport almost dashed her hopes of relocating to New Zealand, turning an expected journey into a stressful predicament.
In March, Lindsey Gray was all set at Sydney’s international airport, prepared to embark on a new life with her family across the Tasman Sea.
Having waited several months for a travel clearance, she was keenly anticipating this move with her partner and their young son Douglas, who both hold New Zealand citizenship.
Yet, plans spiraled into chaos when immigration officials identified some slight wear on a few pages of her passport, ultimately barring Ms. Gray from catching her flight.
Sydney resident Lindsey Gray (pictured) was not permitted to board the flight to New Zealand due to minor damage detected on her Australian passport by immigration authorities.
Ms Gray was forced to organise an emergency appointment for a new passport following a stressful episode at the international airport (pictured, travellers in Sydney in April)
Ms Gray told Yahoo News Australia that her toddler had somehow located and then nibbled on the photo page of her passport.
‘When [New Zealand immigration officials] saw the nibble on my passport, they were 100 per cent unimpressed,’ she recalled.
‘They told me it could have been tampered with and therefore I would not be allowed to travel.’
She explained that because the borders had been closed to Australian citizens at the time, her passport had to be checked by a Kiwi immigration official at Sydney airport who soon spotted the damage.
This was when her travel plans were turned upside-down.
Having already put their home up for sale and sent all their possessions to New Zealand, the Grays’ were essentially homeless.
The mother-of-one had no choice but to organise an emergency appointment to get a new passport.
Immigration officials explained to the Sydney mother-of-one the damage meant the passport could have been tampered with (pictured, travellers queue up in the airport in April, 2020)
Ms Gray took a train from the international airport to Central Station to pick-up the new document, which ended up costing her $533.
The family were able to fly to New Zealand the following day after a night in a hotel and another round of Covid testing.
Ms Gray has since issued a stark warning to other travellers, urging them to check their passport thoroughly for even the most minor damage.
She joked her new passport, which features a photo of her ‘puffy, distressed, cry-face’, would remain a reminder of the stressful episode.
‘Big lesson for out-of-practice travellers here – check that puppy for damage before flying,’ she said.
Ms Gray has since issued a stark warning to other travellers, urging them to check the photo page of their passport for even the most minor damage (pictured, passengers in Sydney)