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Renaper Widens Response to Defective Passports With WhatsApp Checks and On-Site Reprints

Officials say a faulty German security ink left some AAL-series booklets unreadable, prompting large-scale screening and free replacements.

Overview

  • Verification now includes an official WhatsApp chatbot (+54 9 11 5126-1789) that flags passports for review, with priority service for travelers departing within seven days.
  • On-the-spot reprints are available at Aeroparque and Ezeiza around the clock and at Buquebus, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario and Salta, with replacement times typically between two and six hours.
  • Renaper lists suspect AAL ranges—AAL314778–346228, AAL400000–607599 and AAL616000–620088—and estimates about 5,500 defective booklets within more than 200,000 printed.
  • Lawmakers have requested information and dispute the scope, with estimates reaching as high as roughly 60,000, while officials report over 15,000 checks and more than 2,600 reprints to date.
  • Argentine consulates in Brazil, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and Spain are recalling or holding recent passports for verification, and emergency or provisional documents are being issued abroad at no charge, with authorities saying no traveler has been unable to fly.