Is it safe to give copy of passport and copy of visa to travel agents

[calijatt 0]

I am just wondering if its safe to give copy of passort biographic page and copy of visa to a travel agent for his record keeping. Our travel agent from punjab india is asking for one he said we keep in record incase we need it. I told him their is no such policy and I dont feel comfortable please give me tip on this ??????

I told him you should have copy of ticket and recipt payment for refrence of ur records.

[journeyman 0]

As a matter of fact you should be the one framing such a policy of NOT giving any of your documents to these scrupulous agents especially in North India. Tell him buzz off ! There's such policy, Find someone else. It is none of his business, as long as you pay him, he must issue you a ticket.

First of all how does he even know that you are going on a VISA, tell him you are USC or a GC holder.

IN ONE SENTENCE, ALL HE NEEDS FROM YOU IS THE NAME and MONEY FOR THE TICKET.

[Charuhans 0]

As a matter of fact you should be the one framing such a policy of NOT giving any of your documents to these scrupulous agents especially in North India. Tell him buzz off ! There's such policy, Find someone else. It is none of his business, as long as you pay him, he must issue you a ticket.

First of all how does he even know that you are going on a VISA, tell him you are USC or a GC holder.

IN ONE SENTENCE, ALL HE NEEDS FROM YOU IS THE NAME and MONEY FOR THE TICKET.

If you know anything about regulations, you would know that any airline which flies to the US HAS to give a list of passengers traveling on each flight. Homeland security scans the names and clears each passenger. Also, the airline is RESPONSIBLE for assuring that each passenger is traveling with valid travel documents. For each passenger without a valid visa/travel documents who boards the plane, the airline is fined $5,000. This applies even to shipping companies. Every seaman who is on a ship which docks in a US port has to have a valid visa, even if he doesn't intent to get off the ship.

But yes, I will be very anxious to give a copy of anything to a travel agent in Punjab/Delhi or anywhere else in North India.

[ELW 5]

Like journeyman said, only name and money are needed to book the ticket. I would NOT give the travel agent a copy of the passport and visa.

All documents including visa and passport are confirmed only during check-in before boarding the flight.

At least, that is our understanding and experience.

[journeyman 0]

As a matter of fact you should be the one framing such a policy of NOT giving any of your documents to these scrupulous agents especially in North India. Tell him buzz off ! There's such policy, Find someone else. It is none of his business, as long as you pay him, he must issue you a ticket.

First of all how does he even know that you are going on a VISA, tell him you are USC or a GC holder.

IN ONE SENTENCE, ALL HE NEEDS FROM YOU IS THE NAME and MONEY FOR THE TICKET.

If you know anything about regulations, you would know that any airline which flies to the US HAS to give a list of passengers traveling on each flight. Homeland security scans the names and clears each passenger. Also, the airline is RESPONSIBLE for assuring that each passenger is traveling with valid travel documents. For each passenger without a valid visa/travel documents who boards the plane, the airline is fined $5,000. This applies even to shipping companies. Every seaman who is on a ship which docks in a US port has to have a valid visa, even if he doesn't intent to get off the ship.

But yes, I will be very anxious to give a copy of anything to a travel agent in Punjab/Delhi or anywhere else in North India.

If you have ever travelled, you should also know that the DHS warns to not share the documents and things taken onboard with any third parties.

You are right about the airlines taking the info from a non-USC.

You are wrong about a tom-#######-and-harry travel agent asking legitimately your travel documents.

Like I said above, would your travel agent ask for your US passport or GC if you said you are a USC or a GC holder ?

Our travel agents have not asked us such docs..

[calijatt 0]

Thanks lot guys for prompt replies

[Charuhans 0]

As a matter of fact you should be the one framing such a policy of NOT giving any of your documents to these scrupulous agents especially in North India. Tell him buzz off ! There's such policy, Find someone else. It is none of his business, as long as you pay him, he must issue you a ticket.

First of all how does he even know that you are going on a VISA, tell him you are USC or a GC holder.

IN ONE SENTENCE, ALL HE NEEDS FROM YOU IS THE NAME and MONEY FOR THE TICKET.

If you have ever travelled, you should also know that the DHS warns to not share the documents and things taken onboard with any third parties.

You are right about the airlines taking the info from a non-USC.

You are wrong about a tom-#######-and-harry travel agent asking legitimately your travel documents.

Like I said above, would your travel agent ask for your US passport or GC if you said you are a USC or a GC holder ?

Our travel agents have not asked us such docs..

"If you have ever travelled[/color]" Lack of understanding/comprehension of the written word?? Maybe but thats not the subject of this discussion. Anyway, given below are the passages from the regulations regarding the topic in discussion. Absolutely relevant information is highlighted and colored to faciliate easy comprehension. In case, you want to verify the full document is available at the following website:

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy...p_atsupdate.pdf

The only explanation for some travel agents not asking for the informaion is that they are taking a risk to get business, or they know the person very well. My 2 bits, if you come across any agent who is not obtaining the copy of the passport/visa before booking your ticket report it to Homeland Security.

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of the Secretary

DHS-2007-0042

Privacy Act of 1974; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Automated Targeting System, System of Records

AGENCY: Privacy Office; Department of Homeland Security

SUMMARY: This document is a new System of Records Notice (SORN) for the Automated Targeting System (ATS) and is subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. ATS is an enforcement screening tool consisting of six separate components, all of which rely substantially on information in the Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS). ATS historically was covered by the SORN for TECS. The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a separate SORN for ATS in the Federal Register on November 2, 2006.

Within ATS there are six separate and distinct components that perform screening of inbound and outbound cargo, conveyances, or travelers by comparing information received against CBP’s law enforcement databases, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Terrorist Screening Center’s Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), information on outstanding wants or warrants, information from other government agencies regarding high-risk parties, and risk-based rules developed by analysts based on law enforcement data, intelligence, and past case experience. The modules also facilitate analysis of the screening results of these comparisons.

ATS-P became operational in 1999 and is critically important to CBP’s mission. ATS-P allows CBP officers to determine whether a variety of potential risk indicators exist for travelers and/or their itineraries that may warrant additional scrutiny. ATS-P maintains Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, which is data provided to airlines and travel agents by or on behalf of air passengers seeking to book travel.

The Legal Requirements

The Privacy Act embodies fair information principles in a statutory framework governing the means by which the United States Government collects, maintains, uses, and disseminates personally identifiable information. The Privacy Act applies to information that is maintained in a “system of records.” A system of records is a group of any records under the control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual. In the Privacy Act, an individual is defined to encompass U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. ATS involves the collection and creation of information that is maintained in a system of records. ATS also stores information on individuals other than U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs). As a matter of administrative policy, where the PII of individuals other than U.S. citizens and LPRs is held in mixed systems (i.e., a system also including U.S. citizen or LPR), DHS will accord such PII the fair information principles set forth the Privacy Act.

Data collected and maintained from air carriers as PNR are listed later in this notice in the “Categories of Records in the System” section of this notice; the listed categories are not specific data elements because each carrier varies its configuration of PNR to meet its business needs. In an effort to provide some consistency in the description of PNR data for the traveling public, CBP has categorized the various data that generally comprise PNR for air carriers into the 19 categories listed in the SORN. The PNR data, upon request, may be provided to the requester in the form in which it was collected from the respective carrier, but may not include certain business confidential information of the air carrier that is also contained in the record, such as use and application of frequent flier miles, internal annotations to the air fare, etc.

Third, CBP has added the following category to the categories of persons from whom information is obtained: “Persons who serve as booking agents.” Several commenters correctly noted that many in the traveling public utilize the services of booking agents and that booking agents’ identities are included in itinerary information.

Fourth, to be consistent with the forthcoming SORN for the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), CBP has amended category A to include persons whose international itineraries cause their flight to stop in the United States, either to refuel or to permit a transfer, and crewmembers on flights that overfly or transit through U.S. airspace.

Examples of these categories of PNR, as listed below under “Categories of Records” include: name, date of issuance ticket, date(s) of travel, PNR locator number, payment information, such as credit card information, and travel agent or travel agency that may have made the reservations for the individual.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM.

A. Persons seeking to enter, exit, or transit through the United States by land, air, or sea. This includes passengers who arrive and depart the United States by air or sea, including those in transit through the United States on route to a foreign destination and crew members who arrive and depart the United States by air or sea, including those in transit through the United States on route to a foreign destination, and crew members on aircraft that over fly the United States.

E. Persons who serve as booking agents, brokers, or other persons who provide information on behalf of persons seeking to enter, exit, or transit through the United States.

ATS-P, a component of ATS, maintains the PNR information obtained from commercial air carriers and uses that information to assess whether there is a risk associated with any travelers seeking to enter, exit, or pass through the United States. PNR may include some combination of these following categories of information, when available:

1. PNR record locator code

2. Date of reservation/ issue of ticket

3. Date(s) of intended travel

4. Name(s)

5. Available frequent flier and benefit information (i.e., free tickets, upgrades, etc.)

6. Other names on PNR, including number of travelers on PNR

7. All available contact information (including originator of reservation)

8. All available payment/billing information (e.g. credit card number)

9. Travel itinerary for specific PNR

10. Travel agency/travel agent

11. Code share information (e.g., when one air carrier sells seats on another air carrier’s flight)

12. Split/divided information (e.g., when one PNR contains a reference to another PNR)

13. Travel status of passenger (including confirmations and check-in status)

14. Ticketing information, including ticket number, one way tickets and Automated Ticket Fare Quote (ATFQ) fields

15. Baggage information

16. Seat information, including seat number

17. General remarks including Other Service Indicated (OSI), Special Service Indicated (SSI) and Supplemental Service Request (SSR) information

18. Any collected APIS information (e.g., Advance Passenger Information (API) that is initially captured by an air carrier within its PNR, such as passport number, date of birth and gender)

19. All historical changes to the PNR listed in numbers 1 to 18

Exemptions claimed for the system:

Pursuant to 6 CFR Part 5, Appendix C, certain records and information in this system are exempt from 5 U.S.C. 552a ©(3) and (4); (d)(1), (2), (3), and (4); (e)(1), (2), (3), (4)(G) through (I), (e)(5), and (8); , and (g) of the Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (j)(2)and (k)(2)). With respect to ATS-P module, exempt records are the risk assessment analyses and business confidential information received in the PNR from the air and vessel carriers. No exemption shall be asserted regarding PNR data about the requester, obtained from either the requester or by a booking agent, brokers, or another person on the requester’s behalf. This information, upon request, may be provided to the requester in the form in which it was collected from the respective carrier, but may not include certain business confidential information of the air carrier that is also contained in the record. For other ATS modules the only information maintained in ATS is the risk assessment analyses and a pointer to the data from the source system of records.

Write back if you have more questions.

Chaurhans

[Sandip 0]

When I booked tickets via Air India for my wife they asked for copies of her passport and visa. My travel agent was here in US but she told me that she needs the documents because the ticket is being issued from India. First of all, my wife didn't have her visa issued at the time and even if it was issued, I was not going to give it to the agent. I told her to issue the ticket from US instead of India because she had told me that visa/passport is not required if the ticket is issued from US. It was very weird.....

Be Careful

Sandip