Passport requirements

Thanks, Michael. I am glad I asked. I better go look up the requirements for Italy, as that is where we will be last. Or does it just matter to the country where we enter? That will be Germany, and then we head to Italy by train, so there will be no passport check. It is odd that the State Department would have outdated info, but I suppose it is too much trouble to post requirements for each individual country.

You're welcome, it should only matter which country you enter.

Your current passport is good. Your passport will only be checked into and out of Germany, the rest of your countries are part of the Schengen Zone, so no passport check traveling between them.

Great! Thank you! Can I get a stamp in my passport as a souvenir? Or I won't even be walking through those zones?

but the airlines may want to see it if you check baggage or check in. They will want to see that the name matches up "for security" and to charge you extra for any needed "name change".

No stamps anymore most likely - its done electronically. I've been coming to Continental Europe for many years now and going to many countries here and still no stamps in my (UK) passport.

You may find passport stamps in eastern Europe. Ukraine has them, so does Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Rumania, that's all I can think of. Several years ago Steves glibly said a traveler could get a passport stamp in one of the tiny Euripean countries, I forgot which one, by having the post office do it. So, we were in Luxembourg City and went to the post office to get our passports stamped. The post office was abandoned. We followed the directions to the new post office, took a number, and asked at one of the windows if we could get our passports stamped. Nobody knew. We got handed off to a manager who had never heard of such a thing. I saw a hand cancellation stamp sitting behind the counter and asked if they could use that, and received a horrified "NO". We were then directed to a government office buildidng which takes care of passports, births, deaths, and a myriad of other citizen concerns. Nobody there had ever heard of stamping foreign passports so we said the heck with it and haven't tried it again. Going back and forth to and from Canada the American and Canadian border stations will usually stamp your passports if there are no lines of cars behind you. I ask, "Do you still stamp passports?". They usually say yes and do it. Asian countries we have travelled to always stamp.

My kids passports are new and they don't have pages to stamp only visa pages. I guess the days of getting stamps are long gone. :(

I renewed my passport January 2012 and have 5 stamps in it: Roissy CDG (2012 & 2013) Heathrow UK, Casablanca & Marrakech.

That's wonderful!

That's where stamps go - - on the visa pages. Youse guys need to go more interesting places. I ordred mine 'fat' two years ago and it's already gone back for more pages.

Ok. I thought that was for your visa stamps when going to countries that require a Visa. Good to know. Thanks! They never stamped my passport when I went to the Caribbean or Mexico. And my old passport has Philippines and Thailand but both required a Visa and I was under 12. Can't remember that far back. :)

Just a little more. We get stamped coming and going at Schiphol. I suppose that's so they know you've arrived and left when you should.

Monte, I remember that episode, it was San Marino where he went to the post office for the stamp, I guess it's a bit of a money maker for them, be it a small one.

I am curious why what Stacey was told by the German consulate ("your passport is good until the the last day") is different from what the State Department says about the Schengen zone: "If you are traveling for business or tourism: You don't need a visa for the initial entry into the Schengen area, but you must have a passport valid three months beyond the proposed stay.
For example, for a two-week business trip, the passport must be valid for four months; for a two-month holiday the passport must be valid for five months." That is from the Schengen Fact Sheet on travel.state.gov and appears to confirm the "90-day rule" that many people have mentioned here. (This is not the same 90-day rule as the one for staying in the Schengen zone, but rather a requirement that one's passport be valid for 90 days beyond departure from the Schengen zone. I am just trying to get it right, since I have a passport expiring in February 2014 and a trip ending November 1. I actually assumed I would have to renew and went and got the photos taken. Then I found the above website and statement of the requirement, so it appears I don't have to renew yet. Which is good, as I hate the photo and want to keep using my current passport as long as I can!

From the German Consulate website New York( http://tinyurl.com/8az73bc): "...US citizens in possession of a valid US passport do not need a visa for airport transit, tourist or business trips (for stays up to 90 days). The passport must not expire before the end of the scheduled trip..." Not every country in the Schengen zone has a 90 day rule. Some still have a six month requirement, others 90 day, and others like Germany, Belgium, and Luxemburg have no expiration rule. Even though it's not in the Schengen zone, the UK also has no expiration rule. The State Dept. info is out of date regarding it, it's best to head to the consulate websites for more precise info.

Hi, On going to Hungary: I did just that in May 2010, at the Austro-Hungarian border the Hungarian border official came on to check passports, my US passport and those of other passengers as well, incl. other Americans in the coach. But, no passsport stamp...disappointing. When I go to England and the Schengen zone, I get 4 stamps by the time I'm airborne back to SFO, then at SFO Immigration I get one more stamp (the USA Readmitted stamp), which sometimes I have had to ask for since it's no longer done automatically.

We recently found ourselves in an identical position as Lola , and looked for definitive answers . Susan's ( my better half ) passport was due to expire after our return this coming November , after sojourns in Czech Republic and Hungary ( among others ) , and we also considered the questions pertaining to the expiration . We chose to keep it simple = It was easier to renew it now and be done with it . After all it's like going to buy tires ,and the salesperson says " The fronts are shot , but the rears have two or three thousand miles left " . Change 'em all I say , why fool around ? I'ts an issue of weighing a doubt against a certainty .