She dedicated time to do volunteer work on the island, and recently decided to fly back to London via Bangkok, India and Turkey.
Read more: Travel tips to avoid losing your passport on holiday
However, upon arriving at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, IndiGo Airlines employees informed her she would not be allowed to board the flight due to the “one-centimetre” tear on the photo page of her passport.
Viscomi shared that upon arriving at her departure area, a member of staff said, “You’re not going anywhere with that,” referring to a small rip in her passport.
She explained that her passport already had a tear when she arrived in the country.
“I had a tear already on my passport when I came here, I’m not sure if it’s got any bigger, it’s not that bad. I went to America and Jamaica with it, and it was fine,” she shared.
However, the airline staff told her that she would be denied entry to India with her passport’s defect.
Initially, she booked a multi-stop flight that would take her to Bangkok, India, Turkey, then London. However, with the tear in her passport, she’ll have to book a direct flight from Bangkok to London.
Because of this, she ended up missing her initial flight.
What’s worse, Viscomi shared that the authorities claimed her visa expired. She said she had to go to Cambodia to extend it, however, after she did so, the airport staff told her she “didn’t get the right stamps and I was here illegally”.
“Immigration is saying that they could charge me £320 [$677] on top of the flight cost because I’ve overstayed my visa,” Viscomi explained, “My 60-day visa had run out for Thailand, so I had to go to the Cambodia border to extend my visa.”
Stressed and fearing for her safety, she had to reach out to Thai immigration and the UK embassy to get her case sorted out, spending hundreds of pounds.
“I just want to go home — it seems like more and more problems keep arising,” she shared.
Because of the nature of her work, she was unemployed then, and while the case was taking place, she remained unemployed. The expenses got worse, so much so that her sister needed to set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover her travel expenses.
After the long procedures, Viscomi safely left Thailand on July 9.
“I never thought a tear would be such a problem for me,” Viscomi told Kennedy News.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recently released new passport warnings for tourists travelling from United Kingdom, including a warning regarding damaged passports which stated, “If your passport is damaged you must replace it. You may not be able to travel with it. HM Passport Office will consider your passport damaged if: you cannot read any of your details, any of the pages are ripped, cut or missing, there are holes, cuts or rips in the cover, the cover is coming away, or there are stains on the pages (for example, ink or water damage).”
IndiGo Airlines issued a statement through a representative, claiming the company followed protocols in regards to Viscomi’s case. It advised travellers to familiarise themselves with the air travel guidelines, which differ from country to country, to ensure a smooth journey and avoid unnecessary complications.