Eastbay1K

Later this year my passport will expire ... with hardly room for another stamp in it. Question. Some countries state that your passport must be good for at least 6 months upon entry. Do you know how strictly this is enforced or have you been denied entry to another country because your passport expires in less than 6 months? I certainly don't want to wait till the "last minute" but aren't quite sure when I'll have a nice gap of time to apply and hand over my current passport.

eastwest

I suppose it would depend. In Indonesia not meeting the "6 month mark" would just be an excuse for the customs offical to hit you up for another bribe. I would imagine that in Singapore it would get you deported (They don't screw around there! )

I suppose the point is that I wouldn't cut it too close if I were you. . . .

-levi aka eastwest

Darren

If anything, you can have it expidited and get it back in a few hours or days, depending on where you live. Otherwise, I sure wouldn't chance it. Last thing I need is to be 8000 miles from home with some guy telling me that I can't come in.

ozstamps

I travel a lot to very wacko countries, and that 6 month rule is VERY common and VERY strictly adhered to in some places I understand. Why risk it?

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~ Glen ~

yonatan

I have a related question:
I have a U.S. passport expiring in August. It's got a one-year German residency permit also expiring in 8/01 pasted in.
Am I just allowed into Germany until August, or will all E.U. countries allow me in? How about Switzerland (where I'll be interning Fedb-April)? Or will these other countries in Europe still insist that I renew my passport now?

Yonatan

HK-UMICH

I don't exactly know the case of Germany, but many country allow you to use the non-expired Visa/entry permit in the old passport (passport to be expire or expired) with a new passport.

i.e. Using the New passport as the real "passport" and take the old passport with you for the "Visa" inside.

But I would rather check with Germany Consulte, don't risk any document issue in international travel.

ozstamps

And LOTS do not. Highly non-recommended. A void/cancelled passport is simply that.

------------------
~ Glen ~

ozstamps

More recent passport chat at:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum94/HTML/003320.html

UAL Traveler

The advice you've received here is good: renew early. The 6-month rule is spotty, but to be safe, I definitely wouldn't risk it. I always renew about 9-12 months in advance. If you are overseas near a U.S. embassy or consulate, you can renew there.

Sounds like you do a lot of international travel. You might want to request a 48-page passport if you have the 24-page version. You can also have them tape in an extra insert or two on issuance of the new passport.

JNelson113

A follow-up question: has anyone in the NYC area renewed recently through the standard process? How long did it take for your new passport to arrive?

I sent in my passport about 10 days ago, and I can't wait to get it back.

UAL Traveler

Just saw ozstamps latest comments
Heed those words.

U.S. embassy officials (I mainly deal with US officials in Asia, so my comments might have limited applicability) will often say (at least to me) that you can keep the cancelled passport together with the new one, and old 'unexpired' visas, etc., will work just fine. For the most part, that is a bunch of hooey. Surprisingly, the front-line embassy staffers abroad travel very little, and have limited personal knowledge of how various systems work, and merely parrot the official line.

The power to grant admission to a country is discretionary and based on the particular judgement of the immigration officer you face at the time of entry. For a variety of reasons, they may look for reasons to deny admission. A fistful of passports is a good one.

jadrake

JNelson113:
Last year it took my wife 2-3 weeks to get her passport back from the National Passport Center (ie all mail). No rush requested.
Jeff

bagold

I was worried that I needed my passport for travel all the time so when I was in Hong Kong, I went to the US consulate and had my new passport within an hour (the 48 page version).

akhullar

I sent in for a rush in July 17th through the Post Office @ 68th &Columbus, and had it in by the end of the month from NPC.

B747-437B

I usually find it quicker to get a passport renewed at an embassy than at a home country station.

A few years ago, I flew into LHR on the morning of Dec. 15 with a passport expiring in January and flew on to India the next morning with a brand new passport. This was when the UK still conducted departure checks on passports, so I had to explain what I had done to the somewhat confused immigration officer who didn't see an entry stamp!