passports

[rhosafan]

my wifes passport expires in may 2009 but we are going to amsterdam in march 2009 for the weekend. does she need to renew her passport before or can she still use it?

[jno]

it'll be fine as it is (as it's an EU country) until it expires.

[Cathyhuns]

If she renews it now, any unexpired time will be added to the new passport, ie the new one will run until May 2019. Therefore it's worth renewing it now if she's got time before you go.

[EmEd1984]

I thought perhaps its up to the airline? Some specify a minimum of 6 months remaining on the passport, so perhaps it's best to double check with them.

I've just googled and found a few sites with threads related to requiring 6 months on a passport, even within the EU.

[auntiebertie]

For EU countries your passport just has to be valid.
It is easier for TAs just to mindlessly quote '6 months' rather than learn the specifics for each country.

[dzug]

I've just googled and found a few sites with threads related to requiring 6 months on a passport, even within the EU.

Well not everything you find on the internet is right.

The 6 months is not absolutely wrong though, just incomplete and misleading.

Some EU countries require 6 months on the passport OR an EU national identity card valid at the date of entry. A British passport counts as a national identity card as we don't (yet) have a separate ID card. So it just needs to be valid.

[Jenga]

I was interested in cathyhuns reply. I never knew they would add the unused time on. If I were you I would get it changed now then. Mine expires in June so I should do the same. My husband renewed his passport and used the post office quick service, he had to pay abit extra but it was worth every penny. He got his passport back in less than a week. You would have plenty of time to send it yourself for March if you didn't want to pay extra.