As someone who has traveled extensively around the world, I am still always nervous when the time comes to access a country and go through customs. I have a US passport and I would consider that this is one of the strongest passports out there, something that I am very grateful for.
I have only ever had an issue in migration once and that was entering in to Mexico a few years ago, the problem was not my passport per sais, but more the situation, I’ll go into this later on. One of my friends who works at Woodgrange solicitors was speaking to me recently about the power of a good passport and that is something that I wanted to elaborate on today.
Citizenship
There is not much you can do about ensuring that you have a strong passport in terms of where you are a citizen but it is worth noting the difference that many passports can have. A prime example of this would be the recent and controversial muslim travel ban which President Trump has put in place which means that if you have a passport from any one of the 7 nations on the list, you flat out cannot travel to the US. If you have a strong passport such as one from the US, Australia or the UK, you should count yourself very lucky.
Previous Visits
If you are planning to travel around the world, you may want to consider international relations as you do so. For example, if you plan on traveling to Israel, it makes sense to do this when you are nearly at the end of your passport as many countries may have a problem if you try to visit them after entering in to a country which they consider to be controversial. It seems silly to plan your travel in such a way but if you want to avoid problems on the road, this is the best way to do it.
Passport Issues
Naturally it makes sense to keep your passport clean in terms of the way in which you conduct yourself and the last thing that you need is a black mark next to your name for any criminal convictions and the like. My problems in Mexico stemmed as the result of a missed flight and then the fact that I left my passport at the check-in desk for around 10 minutes. During this time an alert was placed on my passport and despite reclaiming it, the alert was not removed. Naturally when I arrived in Mexico, there was a huge red flag next to my passport and I ended up being detained overnight and almost deported. The lesson to be learned from this is that you should always carry on your passport on you and never let it leave your sight, you should also conduct yourself in a correct manner to avoid any issues that may affect your travel plans.
Remember that your passport is your key to travel and if you have an issue with it, your travels may very well run into difficulties.