Passport validity for Brits entering the USA

[hansi]

Got a UK passport which expires in July 2015. Will be cruising in January and returning in February which means that there isn't six months validity left and we have a major problem in getting passports renewed in the UK. The Princess site says you need six months left on it, but a lot of other sources say you don't. Can't seem to get a definitive answer on this so have written to the US Embassy, but wondered if anyone with a UK passport on here has entered the USA with less than six months validity left, and were there any problems?

[Calgon1]

What if I have an expired passport or one that will expire in less than six months?

 

You must renew your passport before reentering the United States. In most cases, to enter the United States, you must have a passport that is valid for at least six months after the date you enter or reenter.

 

However, the countries listed below have an agreement with the United States that allows you to enter on a current passport up to the actual date of expiration.

 

Try to keep your passport current at all times. You need to determine your country’s requirements and timelines for renewing passports . Many countries will allow you to renew your passport while in the United States. The other alternative is to renew your passport when you return home for a visit.

 

In some cases, you may want to delay leaving the United States until you have renewed your passport. You will not be able to reenter the United States without a valid passport.

 

If your expired passport has a valid visa, you can still use that visa if you kept the old passport. Present the old passport, along with the new passport when you reenter the country.

 

The countries that have an agreement with the United States allowing entry with a passport until the date of expiration are as follows:

 

Algeria

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Bahamas

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belgium

Bolivia

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cote D’Ivoire

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Ethiopia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guyana

Hong Kong (certificates of identity and passports)

Hungary

Iceland

India

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jordan

Korea

Kuwait

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malaysia

Malta

Mauritius

Mexico

Monaco

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Nigeria

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Romania

Russia

Senegal

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Singapore

Slovak Republic

Slovenia

South Africa

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Sweden

Switzerland

Syria

Taiwan

Thailand

Togo

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom (So, even though you "don't talk right", and you drive on the "wrong" side of the road . . . you're good - :D)

Uruguay

Venezuela

Zimbabwe

Edited August 17, 2014 by Calgon1

[hansi]

Yes, thank you for that Wrong side of the road indeed:eek:..Have any Brits experienced problems, bearing in mind what Princess states.

Edited August 17, 2014 by hansi

[Jem 12]

Yes, thank you for that Wrong side of the road indeed:eek:..Have any Brits experienced problems, bearing in mind what Princess states.

 

 

If you don't need your passport between now and January I would send it off for renewal now they add the extra months that you have left on the end of your new passport, I know there is some delays but usually you would get your passport back in 2 weeks so I think the longest it is going to take is 2 months.

 

Make sure you apply for your Esta as well, we met some people on our last cruise who only did this at the airport didn't know they needed one!!!!! they nearly missed the plane. You can do this online once you have your new passport.

 

US Immigration can be extremely awkward sadly so I wouldn't give them any cause to complain.

 

Enjoy your trip

[hansi]

Jem, we are cruising in October so don't want to take a chance on it not arriving in time. I am aware of the ESTA rules, but want to delay doing that until I know which passport I'll be using. So I may bite the bullet and go for the £128 Premium same day Passport service, but's what that against losing a 4K cruise:eek:

[Calgon1]

Was going to make a smart-alecky remark about how impressed I am that a resident of the UK has grasped the basics of economic management . . . :D

 

However, my (much) better half is from Huntingdon, England and she has already thumped my head for my previous. Further, my family has roots in Anglesey, Wales. :)

 

Edited August 17, 2014 by Calgon1

[Mostonian]

Hansi - Renew your passport now, you've loads of time. My husband has just done his, even though it will not expire until the end of February 2015, and it only took a couple of weeks. They tag the unexpired months onto your new passport so you get 10 years plus. Methinks the Press have been stirring things up a bit.

[Goldiedog]

Was going to make a smart-alecky remark about how impressed I am that a resident of the UK has grasped the basics of economic management . . . :D

 

However, my (much) better half is from Huntingdon, England and she has already thumped my head for my previous. Further, my family has roots in Anglesey, Wales. :)

 

 

We live in St Neots, Huntingdon, small world

[Dietemann]

My concern would be that Princess will deny boarding if your passport expiration does not conform to their rules. I also believe you won't be able to print your boarding passes without the proper passport information.

[aquilegia]

If you don't need your passport between now and January I would send it off for renewal now they add the extra months that you have left on the end of your new passport

 

I don't believe the OP can send it off now because I believe you can only renew up to 9 months before the expiry date. Which means it could not be applied for before October.

 

I would be inclined to send it off as soon as you return from your October cruise. That will allow over 2 months to get it back and the passport office has fewer applications to deal with in the winter months.

[Calgon1]

We live in St Neots, Huntingdon, small world

 

Actually, while she was born in Huntingdon, St. Neots is where Pat lived until she deserted to America (at age 3.) We will be visiting her "hometown" following our cruise. Seems that her house is still standing. Hoping to meet the current residents and get a few photos.

 

VERY small world :eek:

 

Calgon1 at yahoo dot com

[caber]

I would renew it in October. You will get it back in plenty of time. I did this in October last year and it is valid until May 2024.

[newport dave]

Renew it after your cruise in October, you will get it back in plenty of time. From October to March is the Passport Office quiet time. (I use to work at the Newport Passport Office, which during April - Sept was jammed everyday. After that it dies a death.) I renewed mine a couple of years back in November, normal renewal through the post, sent it off on the Monday, and had the new one on Wednesday of the same week it's that quiet. This summer was the usual 'Press' exaggeration. Yes, there are people who slip through the net/leave it too late in the summer, but these are the exceptions. You wouldn't believe how stupid some people can be when it comes to renewing their passports, then try to blame the passport office for their own **** ups. RANT OVER ;);):rolleyes::rolleyes:

[lexdisic]

I have just renewed my passport within the last 2 weeks and the standard service got them back to me within two weeks. As has been said, the press love to exaggerate any problems, and none at the moment exist. You can renew at anytime.

aquilegia - I had another 5 years left before mine expired, but didnt have the spare pages to cover the next couple of cruises, so renewed now rather than later.

Mostonian - the passports are for 11 years but in fact they give you 10 years 9 months - so no spare months are added.

 

We too had friends that didnt realise that they needed an ESTA as they were travelling from Lima to Paris France but the plane landed in LAX for re-fuelling, which was not on the itinerary of the flight and the airline didnt tell them hence they had to get the ETSA at the airport - leaving 20mins to spare !

[tartanexile81]

Got a UK passport which expires in July 2015. Will be cruising in January and returning in February which means that there isn't six months validity left and we have a major problem in getting passports renewed in the UK. The Princess site says you need six months left on it, but a lot of other sources say you don't. Can't seem to get a definitive answer on this so have written to the US Embassy, but wondered if anyone with a UK passport on here has entered the USA with less than six months validity left, and were there any problems?

 

I needed to apply to renew my ESTA before my September cruise to NY but I had read that I had to have 6 months left on my passport before applying. It was at the time when the media was full of horror stories about delays etc so I was very worried. Yes it did take longer than the three weeks it was supposed to but I got my new passport 4 weeks to the day after I applied. I wouldn't try to get into the USA without 6 months on my passport. If you travel all that way would you want to be turned back because of something within your control? You could always request an appointment at your nearest passport office and have your application fast-tracked if you were very worried. It costs a bit more but would be worth it.

[englishbird]

Official passport validity for anyone entering the states under the visa waiver scheme (esta). Is 90 days from the day you enter The US.

 

I don't see how Princess can refuse you boarding as they don't make the official rules for The US.

 

Just call the US Embassy in London and they will confirm the 90 day rule.

 

:D

Edited August 20, 2014 by englishbird
spelling

[kayelbee]

I have just renewed my UK passport, took 3 weeks. I was not travelling to the US but staying within Europe so I thought I wouldn't need to renew my passport as no 6 month rule between countries......HOWEVER....the Princess personalizer rejected my passport details because it expired 3 days less than 6 months required by them when the cruise FINISHED....i.e. there was just more than 6 months on my passport at the start of the cruise but 5 months 28 days valid at the end of the cruise! Got my passport checked at the Post Office and got a text when received by passport office and a text when being printed by them.

Might be worth seeing if the personalizer will accept your passport details.

My new passport is valid for 10 years and 9 months which is the longest validity.

Edited August 20, 2014 by kayelbee

[hansi]

Could someone explain how you copy a quote (with the blue background) and paste it into a reply. That has always baffled me:confused:

[ar1950]

Could someone explain how you copy a quote (with the blue background) and paste it into a reply. That has always baffled me:confused:

 

Click on the "Quote" button on the lower right side of the post that you want to quote. Write your reply under the bracketed quote that shows in the reply window.

 

Have fun!:cool:

[caribill]

Click on the "Quote" button on the lower right side of the post that you want to quote. Write your reply under the bracketed quote that shows in the reply window.

 

Have fun!:cool:

 

Quote button looks like this

[hansi]

Click on the "Quote" button on the lower right side of the post that you want to quote. Write your reply under the bracketed quote that shows in the reply window.

 

Have fun!:cool:

 

Thank you:D

[smtcan]

Official passport validity for anyone entering the states under the visa waiver scheme (esta). Is 90 days from the day you enter The US.

 

I don't see how Princess can refuse you boarding as they don't make the official rules for The US.

 

Just call the US Embassy in London and they will confirm the 90 day rule.

 

:D

 

Cruise lines deal with passengers from many countries who are travelling to many different countries. They will always err on the side of caution when applying their rules because there are so many permutations of official regulations. They can refuse to allow you on their ship if there is any chance it may lead to problems. For example they can refuse you if you do not hold a visa for one of the countries on the itinerary, even though you may have no intention of leaving the ship at that port.

 

Sheila

[caribill]

For example they can refuse you if you do not hold a visa for one of the countries on the itinerary, even though you may have no intention of leaving the ship at that port.

 

 

Some countries will not allow a cruise ship to enter their waters if any passenger does not have proper passports or needed visas. It does not matter if the passenger wants to stay on the ship or not.

 

We were on one cruise where a Princess passenger had his passport stolen in Egypt. He was not allowed to reboard because the next country to be visited would not allow the ship to dock there if any passenger did not have a valid passport. (He had to stay in Egypt, get a new passport from the American Embassy, and then fly to rejoin the ship.)

 

On another Princess cruise to the Amazon River, the ship stopped for four hours on the Amazon river while Brazil officials came aboard and made a photocopy of the Brazil visa for every passenger.

[magandy]

Just get your passport renewed

 

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