Originally Posted by
CurlyKrakow
For domestic travel in the US, I think acceptability of expired ID's should be more flexible ...
But for international travel, I think that there are plenty of good reasons that passports should expire. As someone familiar with consular work, the potential for passport/visa fraud -- already a booming business the world over -- would increase even more significantly if valid PPTs never expired. The second-hand market in stolen or exploited PPTs, especially with previously issued visas, would be extremely lucrative. 10 year validity (at least for US passports) seems like a pretty workable compromise between valid security issues and potential renewal hassle for any individual traveler.
...
OK, let's accept that PPT expirations is a good idea. Maybe the holder died in the interim. Maybe the holder is not a citizen of that country any more. Maybe it will make things harder for fraudsters and terrorists since they will only be able to use them during the first 9.5 years of their validity.
And, perhaps it is reasonable that a country forbids entry with an expired passport. Maybe you are not who you were any more.
Now, can anyone explain why a passport that is valid at the time of travel suddenly makes one unwelcome in a country once the expiration date has passed? Since this seems to be a near-universal practice there must be a very good reason for this policy. What is it?
Perhaps they fear you won't be able to leave, i.e., being barred from every other country? But, it seems your home country is likely to let you back in. And, if one has a return ticket (often another policy item) where will they go wrong?
This must be simple but I seem to be missing something.