Help! Passport needed in a hurry... I think

In your online research you probably already found the part of the US State Dept website that gives the Entry/Exit Requirements for each country. But if you didn't yet find it, here it is:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1765.html

By going to the Entry/Exit Requirements of each country you're traveling to, you can check to see whether any of them requires the passport to be valid for more than 3 months beyond the period of stay.

Good luck on this.

Thank you for the reply.

Yes, I found the site, and it was very helpful. According to all the entry/exit requirements, for all the countries I am visiting I just need to have a valid passport more than 3 months from expiration, which I do... barely.

We return July 12, and my passport expires November 1.

Not to bet the dead horse or continue nagging, but do you think that cutting it so close would cause problems at the airport? I am having nightmares of being stranded in a country and unable to return to the States. :-)

David: Here's another section of the State Dept website, that gets my attention in connection with your dates:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_4361.html

I'm referring to the last part of the 1st para, where it says (quote is from the website but italics and bolding are mine):

"...but must have a passport valid three months beyond the proposed stay. (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, for example.)"

Three months from the end of your stay, on the face of it, would seem to be July 12 to, say, October 12 or 13. But then, the first of the two examples, the one in italics and boldface, seems to confuse things by, in effect, rounding up to the next month.

Your concern is certainly understandable, given what's at stake, which could be more than a minor inconvenience.

It sounds from your dates that you will be fine. Three months beyond your trip would be Oct 12, and your passport doesn't expire for a couple of weeks after that.

Kent,

I saw that, too, and I guess I'm just not entirely clear on what it means. The longest we are staying in any one country is three days. How would I calculate the amount of buffer I need based on that?

And I guess the one I'm most concerned with is Prague. We are in Prague from July 7-10.

Thank you!

I would have counted the 3 months the same way Nancy (and apparently you) are doing. But that first example on the State Dept website would make me a little nervous, I have to admit.

Ultimately, you probably will decide not to rely on "interpretations" from anyone here.

I wonder if it would be worth the time to try and find a human at the State Dept who would be kind enough to discuss this with you? Given your imminent departure, however, this might take more time than it's worth. I suppose that even an interpretation by a person at the US State Dept, though helpful, would not be a guarantee of how the passport control authorities over there would apply the rules.

It seems that you would be alright--but that won't do you any good if we're wrong. I suppose the only way to have complete peace of mind on this would be to err on the side of caution?

I believe the expedited passport fee is about $60 not $500.. lol

I am so appreciative of all your replies. I have spoken with someone at the State Department, as well as a person at the US Embassies in Paris and Prague (the first and last points of our trip).

Even though the Schengen fact sheet is a bit confusing at the end of the 1st paragraph, it still is what we initially thought-- as a US citizen, I don't need a special Schengen Visa; I just need a passport valid three months from the DAY OF DEPARTURE from the country.

For me, this works (but barely). I fully expect to have border officials counting to themselves ("let's see, one month, two months, three months") before saying, "okay, you're fine."

So as of now I'm going to just keep my passport as is and the first thing I do when I return to the States is to get a renewal.

For what it's worth,...I've traveled to Europe with less than three months validity, and had no problems entering or leaving; no questions were asked. Immigration officials have a lot of discretion when it comes to this, if you're from a "rich" country like US or Canada your more likely to get a pass as opposed to traveling from a third world country.

FYI, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium have no three month rule.....the passport simply need to be valid for the duration of your stay.