Table of Contents
If you’ve been following my Southern Africa trip on Instagram, you’ll have seen that I have been sharing various parts of my 3 black passport page trap.
If you don’t know, you will know now that I nearly didn’t make it past Namibia, which was about to be a BIG downfall of my trip! And this was not because of a missed flight or a lost bag, in case you don’t know I don’t miss flights and I’ve only really had delayed luggage (not lost – thankfully) a few times here and there.
The rest of my trip was about to be a mission because of blank pages in my passport. Yes the lack of or the near lack of 3 blank passport I would have would have actually left me being trap in a country I would of maybe liked to stay in but maybe wouldn’t have been able to sustain long-term.
I arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa and everything was fine. I arrived alone got an Uber to my hotel, freshened up and then did Apartheid and Soweto tour and then finished off at the the Nelson Mandela Mall, where I ate Nandos, and did a bit of shopping. My day was great, and I knew I was heading to Namibia for my next leg, so I headed back to the hotel to get some rest.
The next morning I headed to the airport and everything seemed to be going fine until it wasn’t. I handed my passport, and they were going through it like page by page. The airline staff said, “you know you’re supposed to have 3 blank pages to travel?” Me being confused was like, “is this a new thing?” Apparently it wasn’t.
Once arrived in Namibia and had my passport stamp it became very apparent that I would need to get myself an emergency passport. Here is everything you need to know about getting an emergency passport, the 3 blank passport trap and what you need to do to avoid such situations.
Related post: British Citizenship: My Journey, the Struggles I Faced and Becoming British
What is the 3 blank passport trap?
After travelling to over 70 countries, I still myself didn’t realise I can get caught out while travelling also.
Some countries don’t even just check that your passport is in date, which if you’ve been here for a while, you know you need 6 months or longer. Some passport/immigration officers want to see a minimum number of completely blank pages for their entry and exit stamps.
And unfortunately, if you don’t have those consecutive blank pages in your passport, you can be refused boarding or refused entry into the country, even with a valid visa and a booked hotel.
This is not something I even knew, and I imagine a lot of people don’t even realise as we mainly focus and check the expiry date. Nobody talks about the blank passport pages you to count your pages.
Which countries need 3 blank pages?
It’s worth checking which countries require not only on blank passport pages, the countries I mentioned below are the countries I recently travelled to, so it is also worth checking for any other travel advice for British passport holders at FCDO Travel Advice here. Below are the ones you need to know for sure:
- Namibia: At least 3 blank pages, and at least 6 months’ validity from the date you arrive.
- Zimbabwe: Also at least 3 blank pages and 6 months’ validity.
- South Africa: At least 2/3 blank pages (and lots of people fly into Namibia via Johannesburg, so this matters too).
Countries like Thailand and Brazil also have their own requirements for one blank page. Botswana also asks for at least 3 blank pages, and Zambia asks for at least 2, all with 6 months validity.
If you’re doing a multi-country Southern Africa trip as I did, you can burn through pages fast with all the stamps. Every border crossing is an exit stamp and an entry stamp, and if some officers stamp right in the middle of a fresh page you can lose out on pages quite quickly.
So What Happened to Me
I have mentioned on both TikTok and Instagram what happened to me, which you can watch here. And I have spoken about it a little in the intro. However, worth having a section here on how reality hit me the second I cleared immigration in Windhoek after having a blessed trip to Joberg.
I had already said to the immigration officer to be nice about stamping my passport and I could see after the second ink pad went down on the passport that I was losing more than a page. I got my passport and saw that he had taken up a brand-new page for a single arrival stamp… sigh.
Once I was picked up from my driver, I started doing the maths and quickly realised that if I am going to Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana after Namibia I just wasn’t going to have enough space. And that only meant that with all of that, I knew I just wasn’t going to be able to easily transit back through South Africa, with less than one page for SA. I was what I called under the 3 blank passport page trapped and I needed to do something quickly.
I was lucky that I was in Windhoek, so I headed to the High Commission/British Embassy and asked for advice. And after seeking council I knew it was a going to be a necessity to apply for a temporary passport Emergency Travel Document (ETD) and just to keep my trip going.
What is an Emergency Travel Document (ETD)?
An Emergency Travel Document (often called an ETD or an emergency passport) is a temporary travel document issued by your home country’s embassy or high commission if you are abroad and cannot use your regular passport. This can be if you lose your passport, have your passport stolen, and, in my case, have a full passport and risk being turned away from the country.
The ETD looks like a slimmed down version of a passport, about 5 to 6 pages, and doesn’t come with a long term (it’s about a few months), and it also comes with strict limitations:
- Specific Route: It is usually only valid for the specific, approved itinerary you submit during your application.
- Permissions: Some countries don’t even allow you to enter with an ETD so worth checking before you travel if your country permits you to travel with one.
- Short Validity: It only lasts for a short window of time to get you through your immediate trip or back home.
- Visa Rules: Some countries have strict rules about entering on an ETD, meaning you might have to re-apply for certain visas or check specific entry permissions.
How to apply for an emergency passport abroad?
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you either lose, have your passport stolen or even it’s full like mine was, the first thing you don’t want to do is panic.
It helps absolutely no one to start panicking and just move and act immediately. Every country’s government has a slightly different setup, but for most citizens you will be able to apply online or go to an embassy, which are usually in the capital of a country. Worth always checking the address of your embassy anytime you travel.
For British citizens, the process to get an ETD follows:
- Apply Online: Log on to the official government website (like [GOV.UK]) to start the emergency travel document application. You’ll need to input your current passport details and map out your exact travel itinerary.
- Upload Photos & Documents: You will need to upload a digital passport photo that meets standard guidelines, along with proof of your travel bookings (flights, accommodation, and itineraries).
- Pay the Fee: An ETD isn’t free. It costs £125, which you pay securely online during the application.
- Attend an Appointment: Once you have applied and depending on your situation, you may be required to attend an in-person interview at the nearest High Commission or Embassy (for me, this was in Windhoek).
- The Waiting Game: It typically takes about 1-2 business days for the document to be processed and issued.
My ETD only took a day, but I had already had an itinerary, so I went ahead and picked up my passport the day before I flew into Zimbabwe for my third leg of travels.
However, what I will say is that getting a temporary passport was a wise decision because I certainly did need it when I was going back to SA. Getting the ETD gave me the blank pages I needed to legally cross the remaining borders and keep the rest of my Southern Africa trip going. And as it was my birthday trip this was sooo necessary.
How to avoid the 3 blank passport trap
So here is how to avoid the blank passport trap that I have learned so I am sharing with you:
- Count your pages before you book. Blank passport pages means totally blank on both sides, with no stamps, stickers, or visas.
- The endorsements page doesn’t count. Only proper visa pages count, so don’t include the back pages.
- Add up every border on your route. For a trip like Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana, plan for at least 2 pages per country, then add a buffer.
- Renew early if you travel a lot. If you’re a frequent traveller like me, look at getting the bigger, jumbo sized passport with more pages when you next renew.
- Ask the officer nicely. When you get stamped, you can politely ask them to use a page that already has stamps on it to save space, hopefully they listen.
- Check the rules for every country, including transit. Use GOV.UK foreign travel advice (or your own government’s site) for each country, including ones you’re only passing through.
Conclusion: Blank Passport Page Trap
This was a real BIG ass lesson for me, after travelling to over 70 countries over a couple of decades I thought I knew everything about travel. Clearly, I haven’t and still have a lot to learn hence why I am sharing with you today.
However, this is travel it gives you lessons for life that you only need to learn once, and I’d rather you learn it from me than at a border.
Speak soon,
MBV x
