Six Months Passport Validity Rule

UPDATED: January 20th, 2015: Mexico now requires that your passport have at least
6 months of validity. Please refer to The US Dept of State website for additional
information on individual country entry and exit requirements.

Every traveler must have a passport when traveling overseas. Adults, children, and even
infants must have a valid passport. Adult passports (16 and older) for U.S. citizens are
valid for ten years, while minor passports (15 and younger) for U.S. citizens are valid for
5 years. There are additional passport requirements though, and they differ from nation
to nation. Be sure to check the entry and exit requirements for each country you plan to
travel.
Six Months Passport Validity Rule Explained
Most countries require that visitors have a valid passport (and many times, a visa as
well). A valid passport is often times not enough. You must also have at least 6 months
validity from the departure date of your trip. For example, if you are planning to travel
to Argentina or China in May, your passport must be valid at least six months after you
plan on being home again. That could mean a few weeks abroad and your passport
needs to be valid until December for a trip ending in June. There are a few countries
that require only three months passport validity, which is mostly the European nations
in the Schengen Zone.

6 Months Passport Validity Rule Exceptions

Some countries are more relaxed about the 6 month passport validity rule. Canada and
Mexico are the two most commonly traveled countries that do not enforce a six month
validity for your passport. Again, please be sure to check with each countries entry and
exit travel requirements before you go.
UPDATED: January 20th, 2015: Mexico now requires that your passport have at least
6 months of validity. Please refer to The US Dept of State website for additional
information on individual country entry and exit requirements.
Why the six months passport validity rule?
It is not a requirement of the U.S. government, but rather the requirements of other
countries accepting foreign tourists. Usually countries have the six month passport
validity rule in place because they do not want to risk having travelers and tourists
overstaying their passport validity. While six months is a long stretch of time, it has
slowly become the de facto rule for many countries. Most visitors to the United States
are also now required to have six months validity of their passports. All in all, there isn’t
a clear reason why countries have this rule, but ultimately one must abide by them.
Visas and the 6 Months Passport Validity Rule
Visas may sometimes be issued for longer than a passport is valid. In this situation, you
will need to get a passport renewal. You may be able to travel with the renewed passport
and the old passport with the visa. We recommend contacting the country that issued
the visa to find out if they will re-issue the visa for your renewed passport.
Acceptable Passport Photos
If you need to renew your passport so you meet the six month passport validity
requirement, make sure you have acceptable passport photos. This is one of the most
common delays for passport processing.
List of Countries that Require 6 Months Passport Validity
As the requirements for each country can change at any time, we recommend contacting
the country embassy or consulate directly. You can also check the U.S. State Department
website.
◦ Albania ◦ Honduras ◦ Papua New
◦ Angola ◦ Indonesia Guinea
◦ Bahrain ◦ Iran ◦ Philippines
◦ Belize ◦ Iraq ◦ Russian
◦ Bolivia ◦ Israel* Federation
◦ Botswana ◦ Kenya ◦ Saudi Arabia
◦ Brazil ◦ Kiribati ◦ Singapore
◦ Brunei ◦ Laos ◦ Taiwan
◦ Burma ◦ Madagascar ◦ Tajikistan
(Myanmar ◦ Malaysia ◦ Tanzania
) ◦ Mauritius ◦ Thailand
◦ Burundi ◦ Micronesia** ◦ Timor-Leste
◦ China ◦ Mozambique (East
◦ Cote d’Ivoire ◦ Namibia Timor)
(Ivory ◦ New Caledonia ◦ Turkey
Coast) ◦ Nicaragua ◦ Turkmenistan
◦ Ecuador (currently ◦ Uganda
(including waived by ◦ Ukraine
Galápagos bilateral ◦ Venezuela
Islands) agreement ◦ Vietnam
◦ French ) ◦ Zambia
Polynesia ◦ Oman
◦ Guyana ◦ Palau

*Some airlines that fly to Israel may require six months validity on your passport. Check
with your airline first if you have less than 6 months passport validity.
**Micronesia requires US passport holders to have four months passport validity.