Current Passport Requirements in Italy

The State Dept. web site says you must have a passport valid for 6 months in order to enter Italy. I would expect that to be enforced. I believe you'd be turned away at the departure airport in the US.

I agree with the above. Cutting it close would not be worth the risk.

https://www.tripsavvy.com/when-should-i-renew-my-passport-2972796

I hope you report how this turns out.

With passport processing taking 18 weeks, a bit less for 'expedited', getting it done before you leave looks challenging.

Doubt you can claim a 'life or death' or 'emergency' need and whether you can get one of the '72 hour' appointments is not a certainty. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html

Just showing up at the airport and hoping the gate agent lets you on is not a risk I would take.

Good luck

This comes up from time to time. What you will find is conflicting advice, direction to contact the State Department, the Italian Embassy, or whomever. Six months is a rule of thumb, some countries are fine if you just have a valid passport.

But, the entity determining if you board the plane to Italy is the Airline. If they refuse to board you, then you will never know if immigration at your destination will let you know or not. The Airline also has an obligation under international carriage rules to if you are OK verify your documents and assure that you are eligible for entry. If they fail in that respect, they are stuck footing the bill to ship you home.

So, in a longwinded manner, check with your Airline. Some have online forms you can use to verify, others simply state their policy.

Italy is in the Schengen Area. The rule for the Schengen is that your passport must be valid for 3 months after your departure date (from the Schengen Area). Since you are allowed to stay for 90 days in the Schengen Area upon entry (even if you are planning on staying less), your Passport must to be valid for 3 months thereafter. Bingo you are at 6 months. Rebook your tickets, odds are against you in getting a new passport in the amount of time you have left (but you can give it a try via Expedited Processing).

Sadly the horse has already left the barn but folks really need to renew their passports at the 9 yr mark and avoid this potential. For the average adult renewing their passport every 9 years instead of 10 means maybe 1 extra renewal over their entire traveling lifetime. That is like $3 per year.

I don't suppose it matters what the particular country says if the airlines won't let you board with a passport of less than 6 months validity - and many of them won't. So check with your airline before making decisions.