Q&A: Is my passport valid? How much time do I need on my passport to be valid for travel?

Q: How much time do I need on my passport to be valid for travel?

A: Passport validity has become a bain for British travellers because there is no globally approved time. What is considered to be valid depends on where you go. 

The days when you can just hop on a plane reassured that your passport is still in date have long gone. Stipulations for what exactly ‘in-date‘ means vary from country to country.

There was a time when you could renew your passport early and roll over the remaining months (up to 9 months) transferred to your new passport. This is no longer available. Your new passport will be valid for a maximum of 10 years.

Since BREXIT, the rules for British travellers to Europe have changed as Britain is now considered a ‘third country’. This means the passport must meet two criteria:

1. There must be at least three months left from the date of departure from the country.
2. The passport must have been issued within ten years. 

Some countries like Australia, Canada and the US  require your travel document to be in-date for at least the duration of your trip, while others, such as India and other parts of Asia, require 180 days (almost six months).

Some destinations even have rules about how many blank pages you should have in your passport to allow for new immigration stamps.

Passport validity must only cover the time of your intended stay:

Valid for one day

Costa Rica requires Britons to have one day’s validity from the day of their departure.

New Zealand requires your passport to be valid for one month from your date of exit.

Cuba requires you to have a passport with two months’ validity from your departure date.

All EU countries, plus those in the Schengen Area (excluding Ireland), require you to have three months left on your passport from the day you plan to leave. Your passport must also be less than ten years old on the day you enter the country. This is true for the following countries:

[table id=25 /]

Non-European countries that require three months’ validity on your day of departure:

Most other countries, including the popular hot spots Maldives, Dubai, Turkey and Israel, require your passport to be valid for six months from the date you arrive in the country. Do check the Foreign Office’s individual entry requirements for the country you’re visiting to make sure.

NOTE: As well as six months validity, Kenya and Madagascar require two blank pages available in your passport. Namibia requires one blank page.