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How a very minor detail on an Australian woman’s passport prevented her flying to New Zealand during a move with her family
- Minor damage to Sydney woman’s passport prevented her boarding flight
- Lindsey Gray planned to move to New Zealand with her partner and young son
- However immigration officials found minor damage to a few pages of passport
- Ms Gray was forced to spend hundreds on new passport and rebook her flights
- She issued a warning to other travellers to double-check document for damage
A seemingly insignificant detail on a woman’s Australian passport almost shattered her dreams of moving to New Zealand.
Lindsey Gray arrived at Sydney’s international airport in March to finally board the plane that would take her family to their new home.
The Sydney mother had been waiting months for a travel permit to move with her partner and toddler Douglas, who are already New Zealand citizens.
However chaos ensued after immigration officials spotted minor damage to a few pages of her passport and refused to let Ms Gray board the plane.
Immigration officials refused to let Sydney mother Lindsey Gray (pictured) board a plane to New Zealand after they found minor damage to her Australian passport
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)
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