TA

Hi all,

My US passport expires in May, but I'm thinking of going to Spain to visit a friend. (A side note -- I am currently in the UK, and I'm on a 3 year work visa that actually expires well after the passport does.)

Will I be ok traveling to Spain without the formally required 6 month validity remaining on my passport? I.e. is this something absolutely checked, or more like up to the vigilance/boredom/suspicion of individual immigrations agents? Is it negotiable, as in if I show them the UK visa, they would let it slide?

thanks all!

ps. what is the point of the 6 month remaining validity anyway?

RingoYUL

Last year, i arrived in LHR with a passport that was 7 month from expiration and the immigration officer did notice it and he told me about the 6 month rule. So i guest that they are checking, but i can't say if they enforce it.

hhoope01

I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time and effort planning a trip, paying for it and then when trying to fly out, the airline won't let me on the plane or the country I'm visiting won't let me in. It just seems too big a risk. Last year I was in a similar boat as you and had a couple of international trips coming up and the last one would have started with only 5.5 months of validity left. So I ponied up some money and did an expidited passport renewal just so I wouldn't have to worry.

Just think of what your mood will be if you are turned away and they won't let you go? Plus, I don't remember if the you need 6 months validity to enter the UK, but what happens if you do? It might be possible that Spain doesn't let you in, and then the UK official won't let you back into the UK. You might really be hurting then.

Playing games with passports and visas just doesn't sound appealing to me, but as always YMMV.

drbond

Do not count on them not noticing. Mine was up for renewal last year and every single one told me that I was getting close. Three of them even counted up the days not just the months. I asked a couple what would happend and they each said the same thing. "You will be refused entry and will have to leave the country without passing this checkpoint" Of course where would I have went to get the problem rectified? I guess I could have called the embassy and asked them to help, but one cannot be sure just how much help a bureaucrat will be on a given day. So you can either apply for a renewal where you are via mail or at the US Embassy or roll the dice and you may be stuck somewhere else fighting to get relief.

TA

the whole issue managed to escape my notice because when I enter the UK, I use the iris scan gates.

jimbo99

I agree with the other posters, though I'm not sure if their experiences were travelling within the EU or just arriving from outside the EU (where checks are generally tighter).

The 6 month rule does not apply to EU citizens travelling within Europe - they must be given entry even if they present on the last day of validity. For this reason, since your flight is within Europe, I suspect you might get away with it - especially as if queried you can show the Spanish you are resident in the UK and have a ticket back there after a few days. I doubt whether they would put you on the next flight back in those circumstances.

The problem is you might be denied boarding in the first place.... And as you probably know, airlines don't owe you anything if you pitch up at check-in and they refuse you on the grounds of wrong documentation. Exceptionally they might telex ahead to the authorities at the other end to get permission to accept you. Probably they won't, and if its an Easyjet type outfit, you'll just lose the ticket.

Aviatrix

There is no universal "six months rule".There are some countries that require passports to be valid for at least six months. There are others that don't. (OT here - but Canada is in the latter category, at least for EU citizens).

I've just done a bit of research, and found that for at least three Schengen countries (the Netherlands, Austria and Portugal) the requirement is that those who don't require a visa (such as US citizens) merely need a passport that is valid for the intended duration of their stay. (Those who require a visa need a passport with three months to run after the end of their intended stay). Since the requirements are supposed to be the same for all Schengen countries it looks like this "six months rule" does not apply to Schengen countries.

The only way to get an authoritative answer is, of course, to check with a Schengen embassy or consulate.

jef7

Perfectly stated by hhoope01.

I personally would never risk it and hope 'they would let it slide'.

TA

thanks for these replies, everyone. I'll probably either postpone the trip a bit for the normal renewal process (takes 2 weeks through London embassy)...

mahasamatman

Because many (most?) visitors' visas are good or six months, and they want to make sure your passport will be valid for the duration.

ralfp

Schengen is 90 days. Most are 30-90 days. I don't know of any automatic 6 month visas on arrival (I'm sure there are some).

AFAIK the US VWP entry is 90 days or the duration of validity of your passport, which ever is less. Don't quote me on this, though.

HobokenFlyer

Just did EWR-CGN-EWR with the fiancee last week....before we left I asked her for her passport information to enter into the website, so we can check in online.

When she read to me the expiration date, I nearly flipped... 19 FEB 2007!!!!!! (She doesn't travel much; he passport is 1 year older than mine and it had six stamps in it, 3 US, 1 Canada, 1 CDG, 1-CGN; mine has 50 stamps!).



I called the German Consulate in NYC. I got a very gruff response, "US Citizen? Then it's okay! When I continued to "make sure", I got cut off with the answer, "Sir, I already told you the answer". Very German (I can say that being half-German).

We had no problems. No one mentioned a thing. YMMV.

- HF

kluau88

WWBGD was denied boarding in ORD by UA a couple weeks ago as he was on his way to SIN. His passport had 2 months validity left. WWBGD was forced to get a new passport and ended up arriving a day late for the SIN DO.

lopez151

I'll just add a couple of things.

Since someone mentioned US rules, I should clarify that while VWP travelers receive permission to stay for 90 days, the six month passport validity rule is universal for foreign nationals of all categories and still applies. While CBP is allowed to refuse entry for a passport with less than 180 days validity remaining, the United States has agreements with a number of foreign countries that provides for an automatic extension of their passports. This means that CBP can admit travelers on a one-time exception basis, and satisfy one of our main concerns at the same time - that the traveler will be able to depart the United States and be admitted to their home country at the end of their stay here, even if their document is expired. I have no idea if the so-called six-month club is a public list - I believe it is - but it includes a lot of countries.

I presume that such a list exists on the European side, but I have no idea who is on it or what their procedures are. It is obviously a good idea to simply renew your passport and be on the safe side.

Finally, in case anyone is interested I can explain why it takes two-weeks to renew a passport overseas, as the OP pointed out. When someone applies for a passport at a U.S. embassy or consulate, a consular officer has the authority to approve or deny the application in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Approved applications are scanned and transmitted electronically to the United States for production at the National Passport Center in New Hampshire. Finished documents are bundled together and sent by FedEx or DHL at least once a week back to the overseas post for return to the applicant. The transit time for the shipment, combined with the time to produce the document and whatever backlog exists in New Hampshire accounts for the two week time frame. In point of fact, at my last post we often received finished passports in less than two weeks.

In an emergency, most consular posts can provide an emergency passport very quickly, in less than an hour if necessary. This is a burden on resources at post however, and is avoided if at all possible. For most people who are resident overseas, the two-week wait hasn't seemed to be a problem.

Long answer and my passport explanation wasn't even asked for but maybe one of you will find it useful.

biggestbopper

Good info on the two week renewal time. Thanks for posting it.