A former Miss Universe Australia claims she has been left stranded in Bali, Indonesia, after she was prevented from boarding her flight due to a water mark on her passport.
Tegan Martin said she was stopped at Denpasar Airport and was 'devastated' that she would be missing her friend's charity gala in Sydney the following day.
The 26-year-old shared a picture of the offending passport on Instagram, with the caption: "Wasn't allowed on my flight due to this water mark in the corner of my passport. Has this happened to anyone else?"
Clearly, this has happened to others, as Martin later posted a video on her Instagram in which she said: "So it looks like I am going to be in Bali a little bit longer than expected.
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"Thank you for everyone's concern and for everyone's advice. It looks like this has happened to a few people.
"I'm going to be missing my gorgeous friend Donny's family charity gala tonight so I'm devastated about that, I was really looking forward to it."
As gutting as it may be to miss a mate's do, there are a hell of a lot worse places to be stranded than Bali. Indeed, Martin has been sharing snaps in recent days from luxury health retreat, Sanctuary for Women, in Ubud, so perhaps she could check back in and do some more relaxing while her passport problems are resolved.
Martin is one of many people who have found themselves held up by border forces in the country recently.
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Last October, a British couple's honeymoon was ruined after official refused them entry following a 16-hour flight because the corner of one of their passports had been slightly chewed by their dog.
The couple said UK Border Force staff thought the passport would pose no problems as all the vital details were still intact.
Indeed, a major part of the problem seems to be interpreting what Indonesian authorities consider to be a 'damaged passport'.
According to the UK Passport office, the following could affect the validity of your passport:
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- details are indecipherable
- the laminate has lifted enough to allow the possibility of photo substitution
- discolouration to the bio-data page
- chemical or ink spillage on any page
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- missing or detached pages
- the chip or antenna shows through the end paper on the back cover for the new style e-passports
- the chip has been identified as damaged after investigation
However, things are evidently much stricter in Indonesia nowadays, with dog nibbles and small water marks not making the grade, so you may want to make sure your passport is immaculate before heading out there.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Tegan MartinTopics: Instagram, World News, Interesting, travel