US Passport Expires within 6 Months - Time to Get a New One?
Dec 18, 2017, 2:49 pm
#92
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Dec 22, 2017, 1:17 pm
#94
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This. We're 4 weeks out, might as well renew it now while you can still do it with an expedite process that isn't one of those in-person processes.
It's the check-in agent that worries me the most. We've had cases here on FT where an internal airline rule is showing an incorrect thing, the passenger knows the correct law, and the passenger can't convince the check-in agent to look at TIMATIC or do whatever he/she needs to do to validate it. Passenger is correct, but still misses the flight.
I worry less about the border agent, assuming you are in fact following their laws.
It's the check-in agent that worries me the most. We've had cases here on FT where an internal airline rule is showing an incorrect thing, the passenger knows the correct law, and the passenger can't convince the check-in agent to look at TIMATIC or do whatever he/she needs to do to validate it. Passenger is correct, but still misses the flight.
I worry less about the border agent, assuming you are in fact following their laws.
However, if OP will renew by mail, there are big advantages is doing this now during low season rather than waiting to late spring.
Since OP will need to renew the passport anyway--unless he/she is certain that this is the last foreign trip that he/she will ever take,and even then the passport is handy for ID and to prove citizenship, for example upon being hired by a new employer--I would suggest doing the renewal "early" to avoid the risk that some airline GA will insist that every country requires six months validity or that the requirement is three months beyond the last day you could leave without being required to have a visa. Unfortunately, for many GAs, their personal "beliefs" about entry requirements trump what TIMATIC says, even if we assume that they know how to use TIMATIC properly.
Dec 22, 2017, 1:23 pm
#95
Join Date: Sep 2015
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You forgot the months you lose when renewing (since you won't renew the day before you're supposed to leave). That said the cost of a new passport is in most cases negligent compared to the expenses one has while traveling.
Dec 22, 2017, 4:48 pm
#96
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US passports are good for 10 years except when issued to children under 16. Renewing every 9.5 years instead of 10 is a nonissue for me. Last time I renewed it earlier than that anyway because it filled up.
Dec 22, 2017, 5:05 pm
#97
Join Date: Jun 2017
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I'm waiting to hear how long this takes. My passport expires mid 2020. So I'm thinking ahead now, when do I need to renew my passport?
PS - You need new photos for the renewal, yes? This is my first passport. I've never renewed one before.
PS - You need new photos for the renewal, yes? This is my first passport. I've never renewed one before.
Dec 24, 2017, 2:51 pm
#98
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PS - You need new photos for the renewal, yes?
Dec 24, 2017, 3:11 pm
#99
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Things I would worry about are the things that people actually report as having been problems: TWOV rules for China and what "travel via or to third country" means, passport must be signed prior to arrival for entry to Germany, vagueness of rules when entry country to Schengen region is to different country than intended destination or "longest portion of stay," and so on. But passport validity, not so much. In fact, I've traveled internationally with less than 2 weeks validity remaining in my US passport, going to a country which required "passport must be valid upon arrival." I had no problems with airlines or Immigration in either direction. Since I was within the published validity period, nobody even raised an eyebrow. YMMV.