A Canadian man who forgot his passport managed to enter the United States using a copy of the document he had scanned on to his Apple iPad.
A Canadian man who forgot his passport managed to enter the United States using a copy of the document he had scanned on to his Apple iPad.
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Montreal man Martin Reisch presented the US border office with his digital device after realising near the border that he did not have his passport.
He told the officer he was heading to the US to drop off Christmas gifts for his friend's kids.
Reisch, 33, said the officer seemed mildly annoyed when he handed him the iPad, but later allowed him to cross into the United States from Quebec.
"I thought I'd at least give it a try. He took the iPad into the little border hut. He was in there a good five, six minutes. It seemed like an eternity. When he came back he took a good long pause before wishing me a Merry Christmas," the Telegraph quoted Reisch, as saying.
A spokesman for the department did not immediately respond to questions on whether scanned passports are also commonly accepted at US points of entry.
Reisch said he took a scanned photo of his passport years ago in case it was lost or stolen while travelling.
He said he also successfully used the passport on his iPad to get through Canadian Customs on the way home later that day.