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Help Needed! United refused checkin in Shanghai
My friend is traveling today to US from Shanghai. She has a valid visa which is good until July. Her passport is valid till June 30. So, both her passport and visa are valid.
When she checked in at the United counter, she was refused. The agent told her that the passport must be valid for six months before the date of her departure. I have checked the US State department. The six months passport requirement is for applying for the visa. I have not seen anything that said the passport must be valid for six months before he/she can depart for US. Has anyone been in the same situation? Is this required by the US government or only by United airline? Can anyone point me to it? My friend will miss this flight and probably has to cancel the whole trip. |
What is your friend's citizenship?
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while it might not be a requirement here, a lot of countries will turn you back when you have less than 6 months of validity on your passport. it's happened many times before.
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The CSR was correct if your friend does not hold a passport from Hong Kong (SAR China) or Macao (SAR China), assuming your friend is from the China. As noted, this information differs depending on what passport one holds.
According to Timatic, the source of this information for basically every airline: National CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) (CN) Destination U.S.A. (US) Passport required (valid for at least 6 months beyond date of intended departure from the U.S.A.). If holding Hong Kong (SAR China) or Macao (SAR China) passport: passport must be valid at time of entry; passenger may be authorized to stay until the expiry date of the passport. Passport Information U.S.A. (US) 2. Passports of all visitors must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the date of intended departure from the U.S.A. HOWEVER, exempt are: - holders of visas type A1-2 or G1-4 (i.e. foreign government officials or representatives to international organizations), whose passports need only be valid at the time of entry; and - nationals of the countries listed below require a passport valid at the time of entry and may be authorized to stay until the expiry date of the passport: a. Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria ("Reisepass" only), Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China (People's Rep.) ONLY if holding Hong Kong (SAR China) or Macao (SAR China) passports, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany ("Reisepass" and/or "Kinderausweis" only), Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea (Rep.), Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland (Rep. of), Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Korea (Rep.), Kuwait, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar Dem. Rep., Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua (see note 11 below), Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Fed., Senegal, Singapore, Slovak Rep., Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe; b. Chinese Taipei travel documents; c. (provided being seamen): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (not accepted are 1994 versions of passports, which interior pages are red and with a single image of the bearer on the bio-data page), Moldova (Rep. of), Russian Fed., Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan; d. holders of travel documents issued by the Governments of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. **** NOTES REFERENCED ABOVE **** *11However, Nicaraguan passports of any type, issued prior to October 30, 1981 will NOT be accepted, even if holder has a valid U.S. visa. |
Originally Posted by dnotes
while it might not be a requirement here, a lot of countries will turn you back when you have less than 6 months of validity on your passport. it's happened many times before.
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Yup, as others have said, your friend's only option is to get a new passport.
My parents learned this the hard way, when they showed up at the airport to fly SEA-YYZ-TLV and they were sent home. Had to go to the passport office and do a rush order - which is of course more expensive - and then fly the next day. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news :( |
LGA_UAL is right on. Thanks for pointing out that information.
My friend will cancel her trip. No choice. Even worst, she has to go to northen china where she originally obtained her passport to renew it. This is no so easy to do as she's now living in Shanghai. For many people, it's such a hassle to visit US. I think a lot of people are turned off by so many nonsense rules and regulations. |
Originally Posted by bobo809
LGA_UAL is right on. Thanks for pointing out that information.
My friend will cancel her trip. No choice. Even worst, she has to go to northen china where she originally obtained her passport to renew it. This is no so easy to do as she's now living in Shanghai. For many people, it's such a hassle to visit US. I think a lot of people are turned off by so many nonsense rules and regulations. |
Originally Posted by bobo809
LGA_UAL is right on. Thanks for pointing out that information.
My friend will cancel her trip. No choice. Even worst, she has to go to northen china where she originally obtained her passport to renew it. This is no so easy to do as she's now living in Shanghai. For many people, it's such a hassle to visit US. I think a lot of people are turned off by so many nonsense rules and regulations. <pause> i would advise her to go to a chinese consulate (on the assumption that she is a chinese citizen) |
Originally Posted by bobo809
For many people, it's such a hassle to visit US. I think a lot of people are turned off by so many nonsense rules and regulations.
(Note that you can use a service to do the application for you, but you can not simply mail the visa application to the Chinese consulate) I bring this up not to bash China but to point out that many countries have onerous rules for visiting and that the US is not the only one. Of course, many of my European colleagues love to complain about the fingerprinting to enter the US and the new "check-out" kiosks to let homeland security know you're leaving the country. |
Originally Posted by bobo809
For many people, it's such a hassle to visit US. I think a lot of people are turned off by so many nonsense rules and regulations.
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Originally Posted by bobo809
My friend is traveling today to US from Shanghai. She has a valid visa which is good until July. Her passport is valid till June 30. So, both her passport and visa are valid.
When she checked in at the United counter, she was refused. The agent told her that the passport must be valid for six months before the date of her departure. I have checked the US State department. The six months passport requirement is for applying for the visa. I have not seen anything that said the passport must be valid for six months before he/she can depart for US. Has anyone been in the same situation? Is this required by the US government or only by United airline? Can anyone point me to it? My friend will miss this flight and probably has to cancel the whole trip. United is quite correctly refusing to carry her as they would be dinged for bringing a passenger clearly not qualified for entry. |
Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
Her passport isn't valid for travel to China. It has nothing to do with US rules, it's China's rules. They won't let you in with a passport good for less than 6 months. We are going to have to replace our passports a little early because of this rule.
(But same principle applies... almost countries have rules that your passport must be valid for some amount of months AFTER your expected departure date) |
Most countries have a general rule that passports must be valid for at least six months beyond the planned visit. There are then lots of bilateral agreements in place to reciprocally waive those rules. Apparently the US has one of these agreements with Hong Kong and Macao (presumably pre-handover) but not with the Chinese mainland.
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I seem to recall FlyerTalker Catman being denied boarding to Singapore to attend a Singapore FlyerTalk Do, because his passport expired within 6 months and Singapore had the same type of 6-month rule.
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