Don’t let this passport quirk upend your next vacation

Passport processing occasions are again to regular after massive delays in 2023, making it much less seemingly vacationers will miss a visit due to a stalled renewal.

Nevertheless, one other widespread passport snafu threatens to upend your journey abroad — and it entails passports that have not but expired however are near doing so.

Many nations require that Individuals have at the very least a couple of months of validity remaining on their U.S. passport with a view to journey there, or to safe a visa to that nation.

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For instance, the Schengen Space, which encompasses 27 European nations, requires a U.S. passport be legitimate for at the very least 90 days past the tip of your journey (i.e., your return date), in keeping with the State Division.

Many nations within the Asia-Pacific and Center East areas require at the very least six months of validity for permission to enter. Different areas like Hong Kong require one month.

What this implies: Gatekeepers like border officers will deny journey in case your passport does not have a specific amount of validity remaining. Some airways will not even allow you to board the flight. In these circumstances, your nonexpired passport would value you a trip.

The requirement “journeys lots of people up,” mentioned Charles Leocha, president and co-founder of Vacationers United, a nonprofit advocacy group.  

This is the rationale for the rule: When touring to Europe, for instance, a legitimate U.S. passport permits vacationers to remain for as much as 90 days with no visa. Border officers “usually assume you’ll keep the utmost 90 days, even when this isn’t your intention,” in keeping with the State Division.

It is vital to keep in mind that sure nations might require vacationers to safe a separate visa for entry — sometimes at an extra value, Leocha mentioned. Brazil, for instance, is reinstating a visa requirement for Individuals on April 10. (It prices U.S. residents $80.90 and lasts for 10 years.)

Vacationers can discover passport-validity and visa necessities for particular nations on the State Division web site.

“It is simply actually vital to plan forward,” mentioned Sally French, a journey knowledgeable at NerdWallet.

She recommends making use of for a brand new passport if it can expire inside a 12 months.

A standard passport — a passport guide — prices $130 for adults. First-time candidates should pay an extra $35 acceptance payment. Vacationers may pay extra for quicker service: Expedited passport processing prices an additional $60.

Passports are usually legitimate for 10 years. (They’re solely legitimate for 5 years if the traveler was below age 16 when it was issued.)

Passport processing delays stymied many vacationers final 12 months as a historic quantity of functions harassed authorities assets. The U.S. State Division issued greater than 24 million passport books and playing cards throughout the 2023 fiscal 12 months (from October 2022 to September 2023), a file excessive.

Processing occasions ballooned to 10 to 13 weeks for a routine passport software, and 7 to 9 weeks for an expedited passport.

By comparability, it took six to eight weeks for routine service and two to 3 weeks for expedited service earlier than the Covid-19 pandemic. The State Division has returned to that pre-pandemic norm, it introduced Dec. 18.

Processing occasions do not account for mailing. It may well take the federal government as much as two weeks to obtain an software, and one other two weeks for vacationers to get their new passport.

Virtually half, 48%, of Individuals have a passport, up from 5% in 1990, the State Division mentioned. There are greater than 160 million legitimate U.S. passports in circulation, practically double the quantity from 2007.