Passport renewal needed?
 

My daughter's US passport expires in December. We plan to visit Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand this fall, probably September-October. She obviously does not have 6 months validity left on her passport. Is this a problem for any of these places? She can do a rush renewal, if needed. I've checked on line with several websites, and it seems okay but I thought I would check here with the "travel experts".

Get her passport renewed. This is a problem for Japan and I believe Thailand as well.

She needs a new passport. Hong Kong requires six months of validity. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1136.html

Japan requires the passport to be valid for the length of stay. Thailand's information sheet makes no mention of length of passport validity.

Is there a compelling reason not to renew the passport? Why take the risk?

Thank you all, especially KimJapan. I had checked the Dept of State website but was unaware of the Consular Information Sheets which provide much more current and thorough information than the more general "Foreign Entry Requirements" section.

I sent my passport in for renewal over a month ago, so I should be fine. My daughter has been very busy lately, and I was hoping to scratch one thing off her to-do list. I will make sure she puts the passport renewal right at the top of the list instead! Thanks!

Kim, thanks for that correction.

I didn't know...but I had just looked at the passport requirements yesterday for the other discussion about extra pages, so I had the link handy and could check quickly.

But based on what I've heard and read, I wouldn't feel comfortable travelling anywhere without 6 months validity...it would be terrible to get to the airport and be denied boarding, or even worse to get to your destination and be denied entry. It's so simple to get a new passport that I would just do it.

I feel the same way, Kim. So many countries do require six months validity, I wouldn't chance it.