Does plastic surgery mean you need to renew your passport? Photo / Joeyy Lee, Unsplash
Does plastic surgery mean you need to renew your passport? Photo / Joeyy Lee, Unsplash
An Australian traveller has revealed how a facelift almost cost them a trip to Japan.
Tomi Grainger, 29, from New South Wales revealed an embarrassing exchange at Sydney International Airport after they were stopped from checking in for their flight.
At passport control, Grainger was held up. Travelling on a rather worn Australian Passport, they had been using the passport for the past eight years without issue.
While it would need to be renewed soon, it had more than the minimum six-month validity to allow Grainger to travel to Japan.
But on 2 May, the traveller said the experience left them “low-key freaking out”.
Grainger claims to have been “detained” after the digital passport control gates.
The traveller was then ushered into a room to talk to a security worker, who also could not recognise Grainger from the 8-year-old passport photo.
Border Officials initially refused the travel document on the grounds that it bore no resemblance to Grainger. As more questions were asked and further border agents got involved, the traveller worried they would miss the flight.
“Then it dawns on me. I no longer look like the person in that picture because I’ve had so much plastic surgery,” the traveller told TikTok.
Tomi Grainger said it was 'time for a new passport' after plastic surgery almost cost them a holiday. Photo / tomi.queen; TikTok
The drag performer, whose website claims they are “50% plastic. The rest fantastic”, admits they have had some cosmetic surgery, however, Grainger was shocked to be unrecognisable from the passport photo.
Grainger said they were finally allowed through only after explaining that they had recently had a facelift.
To prove how much had changed the traveller shared their passport photo from 2015 of their 21-year-old self.
Talking to news.com.au Grainger said it was eye-opening how much they had changed, however, they had no issues travelling until that point and entering Japan was not an issue.
“It is definitely time for a new passport,” they said.
Growing a beard, gaining or losing weight will not affect their ability to identify travellers from a biometric passport.
The Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua does not specify if travellers who have had cosmetic surgery need to renew their travel documents, only that when applying passport photos must be from the last 6 months.
New Zealand citizens are allowed to change their name or gender in their passport to reflect a recognised gender change, however, they will have to apply for a new passport.
“To change the gender on your passport, you need to complete a passport application form and pay for a new passport.”
Normally travellers are advised to wait at least two weeks before flying after receiving plastic surgery. This is more to do with the health risks of Deep Vein Thrombosis associated with surgery and allowing patients to heal, rather than whether they will be recognisable from their travel documents.
