Concern about my US passport expiration date - traveling to Paris

I have been told that passports that expire in less than 6 months can be an issue when travelling but it appears that 3 months is the rule for Europe based upon this article from US Today.
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From our State Dept, 3 months after your planned departure date from Schengen zone is sufficient.
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/france.html

France, Belgium, and Netherlands are all Schengen zone, so you will not need to show your passport again, at least in an official way, until you depart from Amsterdam. Of course it is your legal ID in Europe, so you may have to show it registering at a hotel or as an ID on the train to match the name on a ticket.

Once you enter the Schengen Area, when you land in Paris, there are no further passport checks until you leave the Schengen Area. So there will be no issue crossing the border Paris to Brugge or Brugge to Amsterdam. You will not even notice the border, apart from the language of the on-train announcements changing.

There is a lot of confusion about the passport validity question. And a lot of dubious second hand information. The US state department does not set the rules and is also a second-hand source.
The rules are set by the EU for the Schengen Area. Accordng to their website ( http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-nationals/index_en.htm ), the rule is:

If you are a non-EU national wishing to visit or travel within the EU, you will need a passport:
* valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU country you are visiting,
* which was issued within the previous 10 years,

The "six months validity" misquote comes from the fact you could stay up to 90 days, but you are (I assume) staying a lot less than 90 days and will have a return ticket to prove it, so you should be OK.

Go to this US State Department website and plug in the countries you'll be visiting.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country.html

In France, it is required that your passport be valid 3 months after your date of departure from France. So your April expiration date won't be a problem.

In the Netherlands, it is required that your passport be valid 6 months after your date of departure from the Netherlands.

Belgium doesn't matter because you're not flying in or out of Brussels.

So don't fly in/out of the Netherlands. France is your best bet as it's perfectly within your passport validation date.

From some posts on this forum., I would contact the airlines you are intending to fly. The last thing you need is to get into a dispute with them at the point of departure and point to the State Dept. Every airline has their policy and if you seem unnecessarily agitated then they can refuse to fly you. The airlines are ultimately responsible when you arrive at a destination without adequate passport (expiring). And if you are refused at the destination then the airline flies you back to where ever on their dime.

In the Netherlands, it is required that your passport be valid 6
months after your date of departure from the Netherlands.

Not so. From the Dutch Government (http://tinyurl.com/ych7nmbj) site:

"Your passport or travel document must be valid for at least 3 months after your date of departure."

For most countries in Europe, including most Schengen countries, the requirement is 3 months after your planned departure date. However, many websites recommend 6 months just to be on the safe side. So you have to distinguish between 'required' and 'recommended'.

To Continental and the others, it is the EU which decides these laws. The EU and the Netherland government websites both say "at least 3 months after your date of departure."

What the US Department of State puts on their website is second hand hearsay and WRONG. They do not decide the rules.
The same website also says "If you spend three months in the Schengen area during any six-month period, you must wait another three months, from the last date of departure from the Schengen area, before you can apply to enter the Schengen area again without a visa.", which is equally WRONG, the limit is 90 days in any 180.

Liza will not encounter any Netherlands officials until she leaves, so she cannot have any problems with them.

US State Department spreading fake news? OMG.
As was said earlier, it does not make any difference what the officials say, the airline check-in agent, underpaid and inadequately trained, will decide if your passport is good enough to get on the airplane.

I am with "tgreen" on this question. You can go blue in the face trying to sort out websites, contacting embassies, doing all due diligence, but reality comes down to two, but really one basic fact.

The danger is getting turned away at a border, in your case, it appears to be France. Once entered, you can generally get home unless you overstay in a country. (in that case you still get home, just at more expense and penalty)

But in reality, since you are flying to the country, the airline has a legal responsibility to verify your documentation prior to allowing you to board. If they do allow you to travel, and you are turned away for a passport (or visa) issue, they have to fly you back at their expense, plus they incur a hefty fine. Given this, they take verification seriously, they may access online systems to give a "yes"/"no" or simply apply a basic rule..."six months past date of return". In most cases their method may err to the conservative.

Bottom line is, regardless of whatever any entity says, if you are edging to the short side, call the airline, if they refuse you boarding everything else does not matter, you will just be sitting at home with righteous victory as opposed to in Paris enjoying a great vacation. Call the airline, maybe get a response in writing.

Is the Postal system working?

You can renew by mail---https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/renew.html

You would need to use the expedited service.
This would eliminate the issue of "enough time left" on your passport

If you encounter a 'misinformed' airline rep at check in, you end up not going.

A Consular information officer from the Consular Affairs and Visa Policy Department - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands confirmed by email I should have no problem. Here's the answer:
Thank you for your email regarding the validity and entry requirements to the Netherlands on an American passport.
I would like to inform you that passports must be valid for a minimum of 3 months beyond the period of intended stay.

Thank you everyone! All your answers were helpful.
Liza

I would still verify with your airline, you will be entering in France, having an email from a consulate means diddily squat to the airline agent checking you in and the immigration agent in Paris.

I did call the airlines and they told me they are not able to know and that I could visit the US webpage travel.state.gov.

Check with your airlines. We went a month ago and encountered the same issue. The country only required 3 months on our passport, but many airlines (including American Airlines) required 6 months. But maybe if you explain your situation, you can get an OK from the airline- in writing ideally. We were told many airline staff use their own guidelines.

Have your passport renewed before you go. I have had friends denied their flight back as their passport was expiring within 6 months of their departure date. It made for a very costly and stressful experience.

Just rush a renewal of your passport so you don't have to worry about this. You've already wasted 2 days with discussion.

Wray ...thank you for your advice. Did you read my original post until the end? Believe me, if I would've been able to do it here I would've done it.

Liza -

First of all, I hope you know that most Americans have tried hard to help Puerto Rico during this crisis. We <3 you.

Second, from what I can tell from reading multiple sources, your passport should be fine to arrive in France which only seems to require 3 months.

Coming home, you 'should' be fine, but we all know how that goes these days. BUT as far as I can tell from reading loads of stuff, as long as the passport is still viable on your return date, you should be good to come home. I'd take the numbers of the local consulates with me, just in case.

Lizamariepr,

Jeeeesh, I'm sorry! I hate it when people don't read the whole post! Note to me: don't be so judgmental... I did see that the first time I read this, but afterwards as I just read updates...I forgot why this was a big deal. Lesson learned, at least for the moment! Best to you for a great trip!

We were told many airline staff use their own guidelines.

Ain't this the truth. Really it's the airline staff as stated by Paul that are the critical players here. They act on all sorts of goofy procedures. I once chastised my wife for insisting we bring passports to Puerto Rico-- sure enough the check in agent insisted we show our passports even after pleading that it was not necessary as PR is part of the US. Next year will be traveling with passports with 8 months to expiration at end of trip, so hope all is well there. Not getting new ones if there's good value still there.

LizaMarie - I think it will be fine. France says three months, and that's where you're flying to. You have more than three months. May you have safe travels and be able to enjoy yourself in Europe -- in just over a week!