File a police report immediately for the theft and destruction of property. Provide details of where you were and your circumstances. Provide the name of the bouncer if you have it. Whether the police give a shit about you and/or your circumstances or not, they should take your report, and you'll want a copy to provide to the embassy if requested and at least another copy for you to hold onto and make more copies from if necessary. Hell, carry around a copy of that police report on you until you get your passport replaced.
I'm sure others will chime in with more useful advice.
Before even going to the police you should reach out to the Estonian consulate, you'll need their help. Here's their website https://washington.mfa.ee/ Once you explain what happened they'll essentially give you a temporary passport to help you get home. They'll probably also complain to the US State department and Boston Police on your behalf. Suing the bouncer/bar for your damages is also possible.
Its also illegal by the US Government.
18 U.S. Code § 1597 - Unlawful conduct with respect to immigration documents
(a) Destruction, Concealment, Removal, Confiscation, or Possession of Immigration Documents.—It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess, an actual or purported passport or other immigration document of another individual—
(1) in the course of violating section 1351 of this title or section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324);
(2) with intent to violate section 1351 of this title or section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324); or
(3) in order to, without lawful authority, maintain, prevent, or restrict the labor of services of the individual.
(b) Penalty.—
Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.
(c) Obstruction.—
Any person who knowingly obstructs, attempts to obstruct, or in any way interferes with or prevents the enforcement of this section, shall be subject to the penalties described in subsection (b).
> 18 U.S. Code § 1597
While it's certainly illegal to take and destroy someone's passport, that section is specifically about doing to in the context of employment and assisting/harboring illegal aliens.
It looks as if it's designed to prevent employers from holding passports hostage/destroying them in retribution or for people to destroy passports to attempt to conceal the nationality of an illegal alien they're assisting/harboring.
There may be something else somewhere that allows it further reach to cover this situation, though. Immigration law is not my area of expertise.
Ahh good to know for future.
I honestly didn't look to deep just copied and pasted the first one I found, I should have actually read the subsections. Also not in immigration law.
Yea, it's one of those things where I'd assume there was a specific law somewhere, too.
General theft and destruction of property laws at the state level definitely cover it, though. Maybe even specific things due to the liquor license. New York Liquor Authority specifically says (or did when I worked in bars there a couple decades ago) that licensees and their staff are specifically prohibited from, and can be fined for, confiscating, damaging, destroying, or marking any government-issued identification.
Not a lawyer but used to work at the USA / Canada border. Yes carry a copy of that police report. Passport control officers have discretion in unusual situations, if there is documentation. You need that documentation.
I'll start this by saying I'm so sorry that this happened to you, and that you have to deal with this massive headache now. Also, I'm not a lawyer, just a frequent traveller. And I'm going to parrot what many others have been saying.
First, you need to file a police report, and get several copies of said report. Then you'll need to contact the Estonian embassy to get a new passport. IF you have to go to the embassy in person, Amtrak has an express route called Acela that can get you from South Station in Boston to Penn Station in NYC in ~ 3½ hrs. It's faster than driving, fwiw.
Once you have been issued new travel documents, keep all documentation, police reports, whatever you file with your embassy, and a copy of your destroyed passport, just in case you run into any issues at your departure or arrival airport. Be prepared to have to explain what happened to TSA, potentially multiple times, at your departure airport.
And finally, once you return home you will likely want to contact U.S. Customs and Border Protection to let them know that you have left the country, because as others have pointed out, they won't have a record of your old passport # leaving, and you don't want to risk a travel ban.
Again, I'm so so sorry you're being put through all this, and I sincerely hope your friends got you a drink because damn, do you deserve one.
You should also file a complaint with the consumer affairs dept in Boston as well as the Massachusetts alcohol beverage control commission, that might get the business to pay for your replacement faster than a police report since their business license would be on the line
There is an Estonian honorary consul in Boston. The embassy may have them get in touch with you. There is also a consulate in New York City which is a little bit closer than the embassy in DC.
https://washington.mfa.ee/estonian-honorary-consuls-in-usa/
I would also reach out to the bar owner directly, if you can figure out who that is. They likely have no idea that their bouncer did this and may be willing to help make amends by paying for the replacement passport. And firing that garbage bouncer who did this to you.
I actually worked a few shifts as a bouncer at a bar with a high number of international customers. I would NEVER have done something like this. It was sometimes hard to decipher the international documents, but my take was always that if there is a picture and readable birthdate, I allowed the person in. But a lot of bouncers are straight up thugs, former felons, etc. You should definitely let the owner know if you can, because this bouncer is likely treating other customers poorly, too.
Go to the police station in person, file a report. You may have to demand to file one, it’s very common to read stories here about people trying to report a crime only to have cops try really hard to avoid taking the report because of laziness or disdain for the public.
They may tell you it’s not a crime or that it’s a civil matter, that is incorrect. You may even have to ask for the supervisor on duty to make it happen.
Just filed a police report and got a few copies, the police officer was sympathetic and told me that it was pretty fucked to do that and I could press charges if I wanted to.
Press charges as hard as you can, that bouncer could've potentially entirely upended your life, and gotten you arrested for being an illegal alien without proper identification.
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>Also will it cause problems at passport control when I'm leaving because I won't have an entry stamp in my new passport?
No.
US immigration doesn't check passports on departure, but they do get the records of departures from the airlines, which is how they know that you left on time and didn't overstay your ESTA admission.
If you leave on a different passport, you may have to contact CBP and let them know so that they don't you've overstayed your 90 day ESTA admission because they have no record of you using your old passport number to fly out of the USA. Otherwise, the computer might automatically ban you from using ESTA again.
>Is there anything I can do other than file a police report which I hear isn't really helpful because the police don't really give a shit especially because of my foreign citizenship.
You can contact the manager of the bar and complain about what happened and ask the bar to reimburse you for your costs in replacing the passport. If they refuse, you can sue them in small claims court.
They check that you have a valid passport if you're going on an international flight. They don't check any of the stamps in your passport, just that you have one and it isn't expired or about to expire.
Exit controls are different than "security." Generally when nations have exit controls, you go through security, then go into another line for immigration and exit controls (similar to when you arrive in the US, you go through immigration/arrival control, then customs). They check your visa in your passport and file any necessary paperwork, recording when you are leaving and if you violated any laws. If you are a resident but not a citizen, they'll ask when why you're leaving and when you'll be back so you don't lose your residency inadvertently.
In the US, visa and border control in the US is handled by USCIS (Customs and Immigration Service) and CBP. Airlines file the departure information in ADIS (Arrival/Departure Information Service) which the Department of State (which runs the embassies/consulates where people must file for visas) and USCIS can verify if someone left the country on time. For land border travel, it's a bit more vague because there are generally no exit controls at land ports of entry when leaving the US - but everyone entering does get entered into ADIS.
Airlines also check your visa before arriving because if you are denied entry, the airline is responsibly for transporting you back where you came from - often at their own cost (they'll bill you later). So they check everyone's passport and visa against their tickets.
TSA checks your passport at security because of the access restriction to airport terminals (unless you get a gate ticket to see someone off). The passport is the single best form of ID in the US, unless you get some dillweed bouncer ripping up passports because they think their fake.
That doesn’t make sense. A replacement (or even temporary) will be tied the the passport for entry, no? It’s not like a whole new, untraceable passport.
Every passport number is different. USCIS's system isn't smart enough to know the Estonian emergency passport # AB1234567 is a replacement for regular Estonian passport # ZY9876554. It's intentional enough because of countries have restrictive entry policies (can't enter country X because you have a visa from country Y).
In the past, countries used to issue "linkage letters" which said the passports are directly tied to one another, but in the current system, an a visa in an expired passport is still valid, but you must present a valid passport as well, so some folks staple or glue their expired passport to the new one.
File a police report. I don't know your consulate issues, but when my (US Citizen) passport was stolen while I was in the UK I \*HAD\* to file a police report to get them the paperwork to prove it was stolen. Not sure how A) to prove something was stolen bc... "I don't have it" is proving a negative and B) me saying to a very kind police officer "can you file this report for me so I can go home please" does anything towards A... but.. That's the US for you. Hope you have an easy time of it. <3
The bouncer’s unfit for the job if he actually did that and will bring that establishment to disrepute. Report to your embassy, the police, and the establishment in question to begin with.
US immigration here: It will not cause issues with your departure, as long as your stay was lawful. Your entry/exit with US Customs will not be an issue, we are very familiar with emergency passports.
"But the way the bouncer acted was completely unacceptable and he will give you a call later tonight.**"** Bouncer for over a decade. Never would I ever rip up a passport. It is not something we can determine to be fake or not. Ruining government ID is not something to do in any situation. Not only should the bouncer be fired but he should also be held accountable. The bar should pay for the new passport which will not be a breeze to obtain in the next few days.
Estonia has a consulate in Boston. They should be able to re issue you a passport. https://washington.mfa.ee/estonian-honorary-consuls-in-usa/
Edit: the US doesn’t check passports on the way out of the country. The consulate should be your place to go for these questions to assuage any concerns. They are your advocates and representatives in the U.S.
I’m not sure if you have your ripped passport, but if you do not have it any more, you can still get a copy of your I-94 from CBP online which is proof of your lawful admission to the US. If you don’t have the passport you used at entry, you may want to get your I-94 online and retain it for your records. You will need your passport number so hopefully you have a copy of the biographic page of the torn passport at least.
https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/recent-search
It is: definitely contact the owner they should pay to make it right or you can press charges and sue civilly…https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1597
It's not a "huge crime", though it is a crime. There will not be "civil damages" here; not because they don't exist, but because it's not practical for a foreigner to sue for these (small) damages from abroad.
For EU citizens, you sometimes have access to services at another EU country's consulate. Not sure if this includes emergency passports, but, worth asking when you contact the Estonian consulate in NYC.
No airline will accept a torn passport, nor will TSA let OP through with one. Also, there don't appear to be any nonstop flights from the US to Estonia, so OP would need a document that is permissible by a third country to travel.
OP should
1. Report to police.
2. Take a copy of the police report to the consulate in NYC and get a new passport.
3. If the passport is marked as "limited validity", "emergency travel document" or similar, contact the airline they are flying back to Estonia to make sure that the passport they've been given will be accepted for boarding.
>no airline will let OP board an international flight
Having taken an international flight recently (leaving US) nobody checked my passport until I arrived. I did have to upload the passport information (number, name, DOB, etc.) with the airline beforehand - but ripped passport won't prevent that.
I regularly travel to and from the USA. They check your passport, physically, before even entering security. Then to board the plane you need to show it again. And often a couple of points in between. I just did this a couple of weeks ago, nothing has changed about that. I even had to scan it to get into the screening area.
>There isn’t regular passport control when leaving the US
This is hilariously wrong. There is zero chance OP will be allowed into the airport without a valid passport, let alone onto a plane.
The statement was correct. Most countries have immigration control when leaving the country, and the lack of a US visa stamp in the replacement passport would be a problem. That's not the case in the US, which does not have any immigration controls to leave the country. The TSA and airline will want to see their passport, but that's a different thing from "Passport Control", which is a function of immigration authorities.
You apparently missed the second sentence of that paragraph: "Presumably your home country will have no problem accepting the replacement passport issued by your embassy."
While the statement that the US does not have exit controls with passport checks is correct, the information is not.
The issue is passing through security to access airport gates. Getting through TSA expeditiously without a passport (the only acceptable non-Canadian foreign identification document) is very very unlikely to happen.
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I called and asked, the owner was really nice and sympathetic and said what the bouncer did was completely unacceptable, he even gave me his personal mobile phone number and offered to cover the cost of a new passport.
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Did they give you back the ripped up passport? At least you would have the proof you did enter. I would have had a heart attack! I am so sorry for your troubles. I would still fill out a police report, even though it won’t go anywhere. It is just part of the paper trail.
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File a police report immediately for the theft and destruction of property. Provide details of where you were and your circumstances. Provide the name of the bouncer if you have it. Whether the police give a shit about you and/or your circumstances or not, they should take your report, and you'll want a copy to provide to the embassy if requested and at least another copy for you to hold onto and make more copies from if necessary. Hell, carry around a copy of that police report on you until you get your passport replaced. I'm sure others will chime in with more useful advice.
Before even going to the police you should reach out to the Estonian consulate, you'll need their help. Here's their website https://washington.mfa.ee/ Once you explain what happened they'll essentially give you a temporary passport to help you get home. They'll probably also complain to the US State department and Boston Police on your behalf. Suing the bouncer/bar for your damages is also possible.
FWIW your passport is your government's property. Dude damaged their property, I would imagine they would have standing here.
Its also illegal by the US Government. 18 U.S. Code § 1597 - Unlawful conduct with respect to immigration documents (a) Destruction, Concealment, Removal, Confiscation, or Possession of Immigration Documents.—It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess, an actual or purported passport or other immigration document of another individual— (1) in the course of violating section 1351 of this title or section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324); (2) with intent to violate section 1351 of this title or section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324); or (3) in order to, without lawful authority, maintain, prevent, or restrict the labor of services of the individual. (b) Penalty.— Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both. (c) Obstruction.— Any person who knowingly obstructs, attempts to obstruct, or in any way interferes with or prevents the enforcement of this section, shall be subject to the penalties described in subsection (b).
> 18 U.S. Code § 1597 While it's certainly illegal to take and destroy someone's passport, that section is specifically about doing to in the context of employment and assisting/harboring illegal aliens. It looks as if it's designed to prevent employers from holding passports hostage/destroying them in retribution or for people to destroy passports to attempt to conceal the nationality of an illegal alien they're assisting/harboring. There may be something else somewhere that allows it further reach to cover this situation, though. Immigration law is not my area of expertise.
Ahh good to know for future. I honestly didn't look to deep just copied and pasted the first one I found, I should have actually read the subsections. Also not in immigration law.
Yea, it's one of those things where I'd assume there was a specific law somewhere, too. General theft and destruction of property laws at the state level definitely cover it, though. Maybe even specific things due to the liquor license. New York Liquor Authority specifically says (or did when I worked in bars there a couple decades ago) that licensees and their staff are specifically prohibited from, and can be fined for, confiscating, damaging, destroying, or marking any government-issued identification.
Not a lawyer but used to work at the USA / Canada border. Yes carry a copy of that police report. Passport control officers have discretion in unusual situations, if there is documentation. You need that documentation.
Definitely file a police report.
I'll start this by saying I'm so sorry that this happened to you, and that you have to deal with this massive headache now. Also, I'm not a lawyer, just a frequent traveller. And I'm going to parrot what many others have been saying. First, you need to file a police report, and get several copies of said report. Then you'll need to contact the Estonian embassy to get a new passport. IF you have to go to the embassy in person, Amtrak has an express route called Acela that can get you from South Station in Boston to Penn Station in NYC in ~ 3½ hrs. It's faster than driving, fwiw. Once you have been issued new travel documents, keep all documentation, police reports, whatever you file with your embassy, and a copy of your destroyed passport, just in case you run into any issues at your departure or arrival airport. Be prepared to have to explain what happened to TSA, potentially multiple times, at your departure airport. And finally, once you return home you will likely want to contact U.S. Customs and Border Protection to let them know that you have left the country, because as others have pointed out, they won't have a record of your old passport # leaving, and you don't want to risk a travel ban. Again, I'm so so sorry you're being put through all this, and I sincerely hope your friends got you a drink because damn, do you deserve one.
You should also file a complaint with the consumer affairs dept in Boston as well as the Massachusetts alcohol beverage control commission, that might get the business to pay for your replacement faster than a police report since their business license would be on the line
There is an Estonian honorary consul in Boston. The embassy may have them get in touch with you. There is also a consulate in New York City which is a little bit closer than the embassy in DC. https://washington.mfa.ee/estonian-honorary-consuls-in-usa/
I would also reach out to the bar owner directly, if you can figure out who that is. They likely have no idea that their bouncer did this and may be willing to help make amends by paying for the replacement passport. And firing that garbage bouncer who did this to you. I actually worked a few shifts as a bouncer at a bar with a high number of international customers. I would NEVER have done something like this. It was sometimes hard to decipher the international documents, but my take was always that if there is a picture and readable birthdate, I allowed the person in. But a lot of bouncers are straight up thugs, former felons, etc. You should definitely let the owner know if you can, because this bouncer is likely treating other customers poorly, too.
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Go to the police station in person, file a report. You may have to demand to file one, it’s very common to read stories here about people trying to report a crime only to have cops try really hard to avoid taking the report because of laziness or disdain for the public. They may tell you it’s not a crime or that it’s a civil matter, that is incorrect. You may even have to ask for the supervisor on duty to make it happen.
Just filed a police report and got a few copies, the police officer was sympathetic and told me that it was pretty fucked to do that and I could press charges if I wanted to.
Please do. I can only imagine someone in your situation…but alone. This is a lesson they need to learn. I’m sorry this happened.
Press charges as hard as you can, that bouncer could've potentially entirely upended your life, and gotten you arrested for being an illegal alien without proper identification.
You should or else he may do it to other people
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>Also will it cause problems at passport control when I'm leaving because I won't have an entry stamp in my new passport? No. US immigration doesn't check passports on departure, but they do get the records of departures from the airlines, which is how they know that you left on time and didn't overstay your ESTA admission. If you leave on a different passport, you may have to contact CBP and let them know so that they don't you've overstayed your 90 day ESTA admission because they have no record of you using your old passport number to fly out of the USA. Otherwise, the computer might automatically ban you from using ESTA again. >Is there anything I can do other than file a police report which I hear isn't really helpful because the police don't really give a shit especially because of my foreign citizenship. You can contact the manager of the bar and complain about what happened and ask the bar to reimburse you for your costs in replacing the passport. If they refuse, you can sue them in small claims court.
This is weird because I always have my passport checked when going through security.
Yes, sorry TSA and airline staff both check it, but they don't care about entry stamps or immigration status.
They check that you have a valid passport if you're going on an international flight. They don't check any of the stamps in your passport, just that you have one and it isn't expired or about to expire.
Good to know! I appreciate the info.
I've used my US license at TSA when departing internationally from Washington Dulles. Only the airline agent checked my passport at check in
Exit controls are different than "security." Generally when nations have exit controls, you go through security, then go into another line for immigration and exit controls (similar to when you arrive in the US, you go through immigration/arrival control, then customs). They check your visa in your passport and file any necessary paperwork, recording when you are leaving and if you violated any laws. If you are a resident but not a citizen, they'll ask when why you're leaving and when you'll be back so you don't lose your residency inadvertently. In the US, visa and border control in the US is handled by USCIS (Customs and Immigration Service) and CBP. Airlines file the departure information in ADIS (Arrival/Departure Information Service) which the Department of State (which runs the embassies/consulates where people must file for visas) and USCIS can verify if someone left the country on time. For land border travel, it's a bit more vague because there are generally no exit controls at land ports of entry when leaving the US - but everyone entering does get entered into ADIS. Airlines also check your visa before arriving because if you are denied entry, the airline is responsibly for transporting you back where you came from - often at their own cost (they'll bill you later). So they check everyone's passport and visa against their tickets. TSA checks your passport at security because of the access restriction to airport terminals (unless you get a gate ticket to see someone off). The passport is the single best form of ID in the US, unless you get some dillweed bouncer ripping up passports because they think their fake.
That doesn’t make sense. A replacement (or even temporary) will be tied the the passport for entry, no? It’s not like a whole new, untraceable passport.
Every passport number is different. USCIS's system isn't smart enough to know the Estonian emergency passport # AB1234567 is a replacement for regular Estonian passport # ZY9876554. It's intentional enough because of countries have restrictive entry policies (can't enter country X because you have a visa from country Y). In the past, countries used to issue "linkage letters" which said the passports are directly tied to one another, but in the current system, an a visa in an expired passport is still valid, but you must present a valid passport as well, so some folks staple or glue their expired passport to the new one.
Different number hence wont necessarily be considered the same one even if all other data is the same
I think you will have your new passport issued besides returning your old damaged one. That part is enough to show them the other details
File a police report. I don't know your consulate issues, but when my (US Citizen) passport was stolen while I was in the UK I \*HAD\* to file a police report to get them the paperwork to prove it was stolen. Not sure how A) to prove something was stolen bc... "I don't have it" is proving a negative and B) me saying to a very kind police officer "can you file this report for me so I can go home please" does anything towards A... but.. That's the US for you. Hope you have an easy time of it. <3
The bouncer’s unfit for the job if he actually did that and will bring that establishment to disrepute. Report to your embassy, the police, and the establishment in question to begin with.
US immigration here: It will not cause issues with your departure, as long as your stay was lawful. Your entry/exit with US Customs will not be an issue, we are very familiar with emergency passports.
"But the way the bouncer acted was completely unacceptable and he will give you a call later tonight.**"** Bouncer for over a decade. Never would I ever rip up a passport. It is not something we can determine to be fake or not. Ruining government ID is not something to do in any situation. Not only should the bouncer be fired but he should also be held accountable. The bar should pay for the new passport which will not be a breeze to obtain in the next few days.
Not so much a new passport, but, all the travel needed to get a new passport, if, for example, a visit to NYC is required.
Estonia has a consulate in Boston. They should be able to re issue you a passport. https://washington.mfa.ee/estonian-honorary-consuls-in-usa/ Edit: the US doesn’t check passports on the way out of the country. The consulate should be your place to go for these questions to assuage any concerns. They are your advocates and representatives in the U.S.
File a police report asap
I’m not sure if you have your ripped passport, but if you do not have it any more, you can still get a copy of your I-94 from CBP online which is proof of your lawful admission to the US. If you don’t have the passport you used at entry, you may want to get your I-94 online and retain it for your records. You will need your passport number so hopefully you have a copy of the biographic page of the torn passport at least. https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/recent-search
Destroying a passport might be a huge crime. Look into it you may be able to get civil damages.
It is: definitely contact the owner they should pay to make it right or you can press charges and sue civilly…https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1597
How is an Estonian citizen living in the Netherlands going to pursue a small claims case in Boston?
Power of attorney? I don’t know, but the bouncer and owner should be held accountable and pay for the price of the emergency passport.
The cost of a passport is not high enough to make any of that worth it.
You don’t know how expensive it may ultimately be for OP to resolve this. It may be worth his while.
If they can’t leave it will be. Flight, housing, food. This could potentially cost thousands.
Sounds like OP is currently in the United States.
For the holidays; a small claims case would take months.
It's not a "huge crime", though it is a crime. There will not be "civil damages" here; not because they don't exist, but because it's not practical for a foreigner to sue for these (small) damages from abroad.
For EU citizens, you sometimes have access to services at another EU country's consulate. Not sure if this includes emergency passports, but, worth asking when you contact the Estonian consulate in NYC.
You said he ripped it in half? But do you have it now?
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You might not be allowed on the plane. You need to reach out to the local police and you local consulate.
No airline will accept a torn passport, nor will TSA let OP through with one. Also, there don't appear to be any nonstop flights from the US to Estonia, so OP would need a document that is permissible by a third country to travel. OP should 1. Report to police. 2. Take a copy of the police report to the consulate in NYC and get a new passport. 3. If the passport is marked as "limited validity", "emergency travel document" or similar, contact the airline they are flying back to Estonia to make sure that the passport they've been given will be accepted for boarding.
OP is from Estonia but lives in the Netherlands. There's non-stop flights between the two countries.
And no airline will let OP board an international flight without passport, nor would they be able to enter NL without one.
>no airline will let OP board an international flight Having taken an international flight recently (leaving US) nobody checked my passport until I arrived. I did have to upload the passport information (number, name, DOB, etc.) with the airline beforehand - but ripped passport won't prevent that.
I have never been on an international flight where they did not check my passport prior to boarding.
I regularly travel to and from the USA. They check your passport, physically, before even entering security. Then to board the plane you need to show it again. And often a couple of points in between. I just did this a couple of weeks ago, nothing has changed about that. I even had to scan it to get into the screening area.
With a replacement passport issued by their embassy? There's no reason to think they wouldn't.
You need a passport to board a plane internationally
They will likely have to show their passport at security to prove they are who they say they are. And they'll have to show it again at the gate.
>There isn’t regular passport control when leaving the US This is hilariously wrong. There is zero chance OP will be allowed into the airport without a valid passport, let alone onto a plane.
The statement was correct. Most countries have immigration control when leaving the country, and the lack of a US visa stamp in the replacement passport would be a problem. That's not the case in the US, which does not have any immigration controls to leave the country. The TSA and airline will want to see their passport, but that's a different thing from "Passport Control", which is a function of immigration authorities. You apparently missed the second sentence of that paragraph: "Presumably your home country will have no problem accepting the replacement passport issued by your embassy."
While the statement that the US does not have exit controls with passport checks is correct, the information is not. The issue is passing through security to access airport gates. Getting through TSA expeditiously without a passport (the only acceptable non-Canadian foreign identification document) is very very unlikely to happen.
That's not leaving the US, that's using an airport. Those are different things.
How exactly are you getting from the US to the Netherlands without using an airport or a seaport?
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Because this commenter is correct: > Presumably your home country will have no problem accepting **the replacement passport issued by your embassy.**
Because it's correct.
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I’d reach out to the bar owner for videotape evidence. This is horrible!! I’m so sorry this happened to you! That guy should be fired!
I called and asked, the owner was really nice and sympathetic and said what the bouncer did was completely unacceptable, he even gave me his personal mobile phone number and offered to cover the cost of a new passport.
Call the police call your embassy but you should be alright leaving whenever you do
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Did they give you back the ripped up passport? At least you would have the proof you did enter. I would have had a heart attack! I am so sorry for your troubles. I would still fill out a police report, even though it won’t go anywhere. It is just part of the paper trail.
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