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Straight from the horse’s mouth — your passport must be valid for three months beyond the date of departure.I just realized my passport expires in January of 2022. I leave for Spain Sept. 9th returning on the 27th. There is a long wait for passports and I hate to apply and send my passport in to be renewed. Does anyone have experience with this situation and advice as to what to do? Thanks.
One rule for SchengenCheck for the same information for every country you will visit. For example, land in France to get to SJPdP, hike to and through Spain, visit Portugal before heading home.
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:
I wouldn't worry about that just yet. The start date for the ETIAS has already been delayed several times. And it will just be something that you do online and pay a small fee - less than 10 Euro I believe. It's similar to the ESTA that travelers from visa waiver countries need to get before arriving in the US, or the ETA for Canada.Good information. I was surprising to see:
Americans to Apply for EU Travel Authorization starting 2022
US citizens will have to apply for an ETIAS prior to their travel towards Europe, in order to be allowed to enter the territory, by the end of 2022.
This was something I had not heard about. Though I am confused if it means one must get an ETIAS for any travel during 2022 or for any travel after 2023.
Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid for a minimum of 3 months beyond the period of intended stay.
That's period of intended stay. Check the last date that you intend to be in Spain and count three months from there.
After seeing your post @peregrina2000 saying that the rules were the same for all the Schengen zone countries I revisited the link that you gave for Spain and in the URL I changed Spain to France. That U.S. State Department page was much clearer about the rules. Later I remembered the IATA website. The forms there are pretty important because the airlines won't let you leave home if you don't meet their requirements even if you are allowed in at your destination country if you could get there.PASSPORT VALIDITY:
6 months recommended, 3 months beyond your date of departure is required
That is ambiguous, it does not specify WHICH departure is the crucial date — the date you depart from the US or the date you depart from Spain to go home.
Kind of hard to believe that the US State Department would have a website in which they give clear information for France, and ambiguous information for Spain.That U.S. State Department page was much clearer about the rules.
Or had a hiccup during a copy and paste.The person doing Spain’s page must have had a bad day.
I heard on the news today that it's taking up to 18 weeks to renew a passport right now.I just realized my passport expires in January of 2022. I leave for Spain Sept. 9th returning on the 27th. There is a long wait for passports and I hate to apply and send my passport in to be renewed. Does anyone have experience with this situation and advice as to what to do? Thanks.
You should still be able to pay for expedited renewal. It might require going in person to the nearest state department passport officeI just realized my passport expires in January of 2022. I leave for Spain Sept. 9th returning on the 27th. There is a long wait for passports and I hate to apply and send my passport in to be renewed. Does anyone have experience with this situation and advice as to what to do? Thanks.
Do you have a ticket? You can expedite it for a fee. It used to comes back in about 2-3 weeks. In certain cases, you can even go to the local passport office, we have one in Chicago, get it on the same day.I just realized my passport expires in January of 2022. I leave for Spain Sept. 9th returning on the 27th. There is a long wait for passports and I hate to apply and send my passport in to be renewed. Does anyone have experience with this situation and advice as to what to do? Thanks.
Oh, you just jolted my memory. One year when we were living in Lisbon, we had a Christmas visit from the kids planned. Two days before the flight, my daughter realized she couldn’t find her passport. I quickly got online and booked one of those DC expediters, and miracle of miracles, she had her passport in time for the flight.It was returned a week beforehand; a successful, but nail-biting process. If I had it to do over, I would pay the $100-plus to use a DC expediter.
Hi Dianne! Welcome to the forum! Aren't the answers you get just fabuloso??I just realized my passport expires in January of 2022. I leave for Spain Sept. 9th returning on the 27th. There is a long wait for passports and I hate to apply and send my passport in to be renewed. Does anyone have experience with this situation and advice as to what to do? Thanks.
Side note to your note - if your drivers license is not due to expire soon but your passport is, it may be a better deal to add a passport card for $30 to your passport renewal than to get Real ID drivers license. It is also accepted for air travel within the US and land crossings in Canada and the US. Of course you can always use your regular passport for these purposes too.NOTE: US Citizens with enhanced "Real ID' driver's license can drive or take a cruise ship to Canada, Mexico or the adjacent Islands (Caribbean) using only the Real ID driver license. These driver's licenses all have a star superimposed in the upper right hand corner of the license. Your citizenship (US) was verified when you got this license.
That was during normal times. Right now they are saying 18 weeks.The last time I renewed my passport (by mail) they said allow 6 weeks and I received it in approximately 2 weeks.
The key word here is "3 months after my return ticket to the USA". The government of the USA does not control the immigration laws of other countries. The decision to inspect and admit a national and/or citizen of another country absolutely belongs to each sovereign country. The conventional rule is that the passport should be valid 6 months or longer than the admission date. USA government does not admit those whose passports expire within less than 6 months of admission. We, the citizens of the USA, should respect the same rule.I was on hold 90 minutes with United Airlines today. I was told if my passport does not expire for 3 months after my return ticket to the USA, I will be fine. Since I return on the 27th of September I just make the requirements by 4 days! (My passport expires January 2022.) However, I will call the Passport Department to double check to be on the safe side. When I get home in September, I will send for my renewal.
I disagree. We need to respect the rules of the country that we are visiting. In the case of Spain, the passport needs to be valid for 3 months after the date of departure from Spain.The conventional rule is that the passport should be valid 6 months or longer than the admission date. USA government does not admit those whose passports expire within less than 6 months of admission. We, the citizens of the USA, should respect the same rule.
Do you mean to say that US citizens when returning to the USA should have a passport that is still valid for 6 months ??? I don't know what the US government has to say on this but I do know that this "conventional rule that the passport should be valid 6 months or longer than the admission date" is not as conventional, or universal, as one might think, certainly nor for or in the EU. There are laws for:The conventional rule is that the passport should be valid 6 months or longer than the admission date. USA government does not admit those whose passports expire within less than 6 months of admission. We, the citizens of the USA, should respect the same rule.
For some reason, I once asked a passport checker that precise question at Immigration. He told me that I could enter even if my passport had expired. I think it has to do with the country of destination, not the country of origin.Do you mean to say that US citizens when returning to the USA should have a passport that is still valid for 6 months ???
My passport was due to expire this fall, but sent it in January just in case since we were not sure when we were going to travel. It took only two weeks to process and return. I sent it certified return receipt mail, and it took almost a month to get to the passport office. I thought the US Mail had lost it!!I heard on the news today that it's taking up to 18 weeks to renew a passport right now.
Fortunately, as others have mentioned, you don't need 6 months validity, but only 3 months after your date of departure from Europe - in your case, December 27th, so you are just under the wire with your January expiration.
My passport expired this past January so I sent it off for renewal in November. It did take longer than normal - but not 18 weeks! I think that I got it back in mid January.
Japan is actually very relaxed about entry with soon-to-expire travel documents. If you're travelling with a US or EU passport, I am pretty sure you can enter on its last day of validity. If your passport expires while you are in Japan, you can get a new one from your embassy. It may still be preferable to get an expedited passport before leaving, but in principle at least, you can enter Japan until your passport expires.We had the same experience when traveling to Japan. The travel agent noted that my wife's passport was going to expire inside the time limit and we were only about three weeks from our departure date.
Go on then. How do you know?Border control in your home country will take a dim view of you arriving home without a passport even if you have scanned/photo images on your phone - ask me how I know!
As told elsewhere here but . . . lost my UK passport and (worse still) my Ingles Credential late on the night before my early morning flight home from SdC.Go on then. How do you know?
I believe UKBA is supposed to work with British citizens who arrive without documentation to find an alternative way to verify their identity and citizenship. It doesn't surprise me to hear that they do it with "attitude."
I’ve been to Belgium using (inadvertently) my wife’s passport. It passed both the airline boarding process and Belgian immigration. Getting home wasn’t so easy.As told elsewhere here but . . . lost my UK passport and (worse still) my Ingles Credential late on the night before my early morning flight home from SdC.
Decided to chance it as I had scans of my passport and my UK/EU driving licence on me.
EasyJet couldn't have been more sympathetic and one of their staff went to Spanish Border Control with me. Border Control couldn't have been more helpful either, they looked at my driving licence and waved me through.
When it was time to board the plane the EJ lady reappeared and made sure I got on.
At Gatwick however . . . I explained what had happened to a surly Immigration Clerk who gruffly asked how I'd managed to get on the plane. I was tired, I was stressed and so, to lighten the moment said that I'd walked up the stairs like everybody else. Oops!
Sitting in a holding pen with a dozen or so disreputable fellow passengers, they took away my licence and my phone (but didn't ask for the unlock PIN) and left me there for 30 minutes or so as we were eyed up by new arrivals walking past.
The clerk returned and gave me my things saying I could go but should have gone to Madrid and obtained a new passport from the Embassy there"
Welcome back to the UK.
There is no tyranny like petty bureaucrats, and borders sometimes have the worst. I’ve had “abuse” entering Canada and the UK for no apparent reason, just a bad day for some downtrodden soul and a jet lagged passenger with no recourse. And then in Saudi Arabia I was pulled into to holding pen for two hours while they scrolled through cassettes (yes, old timer) of US college football games I was taking to our employees in the hinterland. No real problem, just missed a connection and got to watch a roustabout argue about why he couldn’t take Playboy and Hustler in. The border agent finally told him to take it if he wanted to, but if caught with it he would not like the result. He left it.As told elsewhere here but . . . lost my UK passport and (worse still) my Ingles Credential late on the night before my early morning flight home from SdC.
Decided to chance it as I had scans of my passport and my UK/EU driving licence on me.
EasyJet couldn't have been more sympathetic and one of their staff went to Spanish Border Control with me. Border Control couldn't have been more helpful either, they looked at my driving licence and waved me through.
When it was time to board the plane the EJ lady reappeared and made sure I got on.
At Gatwick however . . . I explained what had happened to a surly Immigration Clerk who gruffly asked how I'd managed to get on the plane. I was tired, I was stressed and so, to lighten the moment said that I'd walked up the stairs like everybody else. Oops!
Sitting in a holding pen with a dozen or so disreputable fellow passengers, they took away my licence and my phone (but didn't ask for the unlock PIN) and left me there for 30 minutes or so as we were eyed up by new arrivals walking past.
The clerk returned and gave me my things saying I could go but should have gone to Madrid and obtained a new passport from the Embassy there"
Welcome back to the UK.
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