Is my passport damaged?

Question

I have a problem with my passport, the booklet of pages was separated from the cover, i took my passport to authorities they only did scotch tape... so i traveled three times with that passport (Europe) but scotch tape started to coming off, so i went again to authorities they take off old scotch tape and replace it with another one, the problem is that when they took off the first one, they took off little of cover paper with it.

In my country it is not a problem(third world :( ). and also i can't replace it because (2014 passport) and with USA non used valid visa.

But I am going to go to Russia after one month and i found on internet that Russian customs are very strict in this matters, so please can anyone give me an advice if this passport are still valid for such trip??

Answer 1

I have no experience with Russian customs, but have no reason to believe they are more or less difficult than other border agents. So here's a more general answer, I hope it helps.

For the damage

If the damage doesn't affect any visa page or the personal information page, usually you're ok. Make sure that whole pages don't go missing, that could be a problem.

You could insist on getting a replacement from your country's passport service, if they refuse ask them to place an official seal or stamp on the tape. I've had this done once on an old passport. They invalidate your current one and give you a new one, so you technically have only one passport.

If you're still unsure you could always inquire about that with the Russian mission in Algeria and use their answer (in written form) to support your claim for a new passport.

For the US visa

Once again, I think you should be ok. I once had a valid US visa in an expired passport so I traveled with both, the valid one for identification and return, and the old one purely as a visa holder. It's very important you keep the visa and the page in the passport, don't try to peel or remove it.

They even say so on the Department of State's website