We are leaving for Spain on Sept. 18,2008 and my passport expires June 2009. I was just told that my passport my not be valid because it expires within the year of travel. Is this true? I need an answer quickly because I am leaving SOON!
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9220 posts
This is not true, as long as you will be back in the US by the time it expires, it is fine. I don't know who gave you this info, but they were wrong.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Some countries, technically, have either a 3-month or a 6-month rule--but you're okay even if Spain is one of these, since you have 9 months left on yours. For anyone with questions, this has been discussed here several times a year and here is one of those discussions: click here
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6790 posts
Careful -- you need to calculate the date of your LAST day in that country, not the first, then add whatever their requirement is (3 months, 6 months etc.).
As long as you're not staying through December, you should eb OK. Just be sure to calculate six months (or whatever their real requirement is) from the LAST day you'll be there.
I got caught by this on a trip to Indonesia last year. I had heard that Indonesia was a stickler for the 6-months-of-validity rule, and I thought I had the dates figured: we arrived in Indonesia in August, and my passport expired in February. Six months, I figured, so I was OK.
Of course, presenting my passport upon arrival in Bali resulted in a rude shock: sorry, sir, you cannot enter this country, you must go back. WTF?! We did the math: my passport was indeed valid for 6 months from the date of my arrival in Indonesia. Unfortunately, we were going to be there for 3 weeks, and....uh-oh....six months from the END of our stay was indeed just beyond the passport's expiration date. D'oh!!!!!
Of course, it was nothing that couldn't be fixed by paying a "fine" in a back room.
I asked for a receipt. I was not given one.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
David: good story and good teaching point!