Passports

[Kathleen tracy]

Hi my 19yr old son has had to apply for a new south african passport which he did a week ago. We can obviously only go to cape town for our schengen visas once the new one arrives. We are planning on leaving on 27th november and are very anxious re the time frames. Does anyone else have experience with this plse? And what happens if we dont get either or both in time? Is there such a thing as an emergency passport or an emergency schengen visa? Please help asap. Kathleen

 

[henrythedog]

Hi my 19yr old son has had to apply for a new south african passport which he did a week ago. We can obviously only go to cape town for our schengen visas once the new one arrives. We are planning on leaving on 27th november and are very anxious re the time frames. Does anyone else have experience with this plse? And what happens if we dont get either or both in time? Is there such a thing as an emergency passport or an emergency schengen visa? Please help asap. Kathleen

Kathleen, I think you would have a better chance of getting an authoritative reply from whichever branch of the SA government issues passports.

A brief look online indicates that emergency passports are single-trip one-way documents allowing one to travel to South Africa.

In the UK there are a range of options including physically queuing at a passport office to have one issued same-day. It’s not cheap. There may well be a SA scheme similar to that.

You’re not asking your questions in the right place, other than the last one. If you do not have a valid passport, and/or visa if required, you would be denied entry and returned to where you came from at your airline’s expense. That’s why airlines check passports before boarding.

 

[t2andreo]

Respectfully, the takeaway for this issue / problem is to NOT let your current and expiring passport get too close to the expiry date before renewing. Lessons learned. Cutting it too fine can and will spoil your plans.

For example, my current national passport expires in July 2020. But, I plan to apply for renewal in January 2020. This is the off-season, and requests for renewal passports are usually turned around in a month or less.

Moreover, with the six-month rule in play (you must have six-months remaining validity when you apply for entry to the Schengen Area), I want to make sure I have plenty of time left on my new current passport when entering the Schengen Area (Spain) for my spring 2020 Camino, and again in July 2020 for my month-long volunteer stint at the Pilgrim Office.

Bottom line, apply early. Do not focus on expiry dates per se. In most every country, you can apply months in advance to avoid the seasonal surge in passport requests that occurs in most countries. It usually coincides with the approach of the peak tourist and travel season.

Overlapping validity dates of the old and new passport are not money wasted. It is IMHO peace of mind gained...just sayin...

Hope this helps, in general.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Respectfully, the takeaway for this issue / problem is to NOT let your current and expiring passport get too close to the expiry date before renewing. Lessons learned. Cutting it too fine can and will spoil your plans.

For example, my current national passport expires in July 2020. But, I plan to apply for renewal in January 2020. This is the off-season, and requests for renewal passports are usually turned around in a month or less.

Hope this helps, in general.

I understood our passports need to be dated within THREE months of return to the USA.
Is the 6 month thing new???

 

[auburnfive]

From Canada, 6 months seems to be the standard.

 

[Telboyo]

Respectfully, the takeaway for this issue / problem is to NOT let your current and expiring passport get too close to the expiry date before renewing. Lessons learned. Cutting it too fine can and will spoil your plans.

For example, my current national passport expires in July 2020. But, I plan to apply for renewal in January 2020. This is the off-season, and requests for renewal passports are usually turned around in a month or less.

Moreover, with the six-month rule in play (you must have six-months remaining validity when you apply for entry to the Schengen Area), I want to make sure I have plenty of time left on my new current passport when entering the Schengen Area (Spain) for my spring 2020 Camino, and again in July 2020 for my month-long volunteer stint at the Pilgrim Office.

Bottom line, apply early. Do not focus on expiry dates per se. In most every country, you can apply months in advance to avoid the seasonal surge in passport requests that occurs in most countries. It usually coincides with the approach of the peak tourist and travel season.

Overlapping validity dates of the old and new passport are not money wasted. It is IMHO peace of mind gained...just sayin...

Hope this helps, in general.

I renewed my 10 year UK passport 5 months early, the new passport was valid for 10 years and 5 months , so no money wasted. I have a funny feeling that I read somewhere that they have stopped giving the extra.

 

[Telboyo]

I understood our passports need to be dated within THREE months of return to the USA.
Is the 6 month thing new???

I think T2andreo was saying 6 months includes 3 months Schengen and 3 months left for the return to USA.

 

[Anniesantiago]

So I'm still confused.
I have walkers coming from the USA.
I've told them their passport cannot expire sooner than 3 months before their return from Spain.
Is it now 6 months?

 

[TSchulen]

So I'm still confused.
I have walkers coming from the USA.
I've told them their passport cannot expire sooner than 3 months before their return from Spain.
Is it now 6 months?

The Government website is not clear:
https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/passport-validity-period-travel-europe says:

"Many European countries ("the Schengen states") require that your passport be valid for at least three months beyond your planned date of departure from the Schengen area. For more information see the Department of State's Schengen web page at http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/go/schengen-fact-sheet.html. "

But if you go to that link it says:

PASSPORT

• Have at least six-month’s validity remaining on your passport whenever you travel abroad.
• Check the expiration date on your passport carefully before traveling to Europe – especially children’s passports, which are valid five years, not 10 years like those issued to U.S. citizens aged 16 and older.
• Carry your passport when traveling to another country in the Schengen area. Even if there is no border check at that time, officials may reinstate border controls without notice.

I would call a consulate / embassy to be sure

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

When you Leave the Schengen area your pasport must still be valid for at least 3 month's.

 

[muddy-mama]

I renewed my 10 year UK passport 5 months early, the new passport was valid for 10 years and 5 months , so no money wasted. I have a funny feeling that I read somewhere that they have stopped giving the extra.

I did the same 4 years ago but it's changed now in the UK you use the extra months & it is dated from the renewel date.

 

[henrythedog]

I did the same 4 years ago but it's changed now in the UK you use the extra months & it is dated from the renewel date.

You ‘lose’ the remaining months on the passport you are surrendering. The new passport is dated from date of issue

Given that many countries require 6 months remaining validity on entry, it was like a stealth 5% increase in the cost of a passport.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

This is a cut and paste from another post I made. I hope it may help.

Countries fine airlines that send over visitors that the governments will not allow in and the airlines also have to send them back at their own cost. So the airlines use their International Air Transport Association to keep track of the entry requirements. IATA publishes the information as a book called Travel Information Manual (TIM) and they also have it computerized as Travel Information Manual Automatic (TIMATIC.)

TIMATIC can be accessed via the web url https://www.iatatravelcentre.com but the following site provides a somewhat easier interface (but likely not as good for general use): https://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps/vendors/default.aspx?i=TIMATIC

See also:

http://www.iata.org/publications/timatic/Pages/tim_faq.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TTimatic

 

[DeansFamily]

Everywhere we have travelled has required a minimum of 6 months before expiry on the passports. There are a handful of countries that don’t but there are not major travel destinations. In Australia you can “fast track” the processing of a new passport but the extra cost is quite pricey on top of an already expensive personal document. Definitely a case of “chance favours the prepared”.

 

[jsalt]

Hi my 19yr old son has had to apply for a new south african passport which he did a week ago. We can obviously only go to cape town for our schengen visas once the new one arrives. We are planning on leaving on 27th november and are very anxious re the time frames. Does anyone else have experience with this plse? And what happens if we dont get either or both in time? Is there such a thing as an emergency passport or an emergency schengen visa? Please help asap. Kathleen

The passport should be ready 7 to 21 days after applying:

https://www.westerncape.gov.za/service/applying-passport

The Schengen visa takes 2 days to 3 weeks:

https://www.travelstart.co.za/lp/schengen-visa-application

So the maximum amount of time required is 6 weeks, which is just inside your time frame of leaving on 27th November.

If you do not have the Schengen visa then the airline will not allow you to board the plane.

Good luck. Please let us know how it goes.