traveler24

Friend planned 3 week trip to Indonesia...Made plans 2-3 months ago...
Did not check importance of date of expiration on Passport...when arrived at Airport Dec.24,2018
was informed her Passport expiration date needed to be at least one year in advance of her planned return date..
Return date to USA ...Jan. 18, 2019. Hers expired Nov. 12, 2019...
Had to cancel trip ....50% of her expenses were not refundable..

cathies

I always thought it was six months from the time of departure. I will check that the rules here in Australia haven’t changed. Thanks for the heads up.

Melnq8

Ouch. We lived in Indonesia for four years and I seem to recall it was six months validity. In fact I just Googled and everything I found said six months, but nothing about Indonesia surprises me anymore.

travelgourmet

It is really about the rules in your destination, not the rules for your home country.

FWIW, Indonesia publishes only a 6-month requirement for tourists, so the OP's friends may have received bad information from the airline - they were probably reading from the most restrictive requirements, not the ones actually applicable. In defense of the airline, though, if you are denied entry, the airline is fined and obligated to return you to your origin, so their conservatism is somewhat understandable.

november_moon

According to the US State Department web site, Indonesia has a 6 month requirement for entry of US citizens.

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...Indonesia.html

So it looks like the take-aways here are:
1. Know the requirements of the country you are visiting
2. If your passport is anywhere close to expiring around the cut-off, bring proof of the country's requirements with your to show the airline employees if needed.
3. Airline employees don't necessarily have correct information

suze

Different countries have different rules for this. The ones I've looked up were either 3 months or 6 months. I've never run across 1 year for the places I have been. So good to know. Thank you.

Moderator3

Moved to Asia board and tagged for Indonesia

marmot

I agree that the OP's friend may have been given bad information by the airline. As far as I'm aware (and I've lived in Indonesia for 24 years) passport validity for all visas is 6 months, not 12. It's possible of course that the rules may have changed and the government just hasn't bothered to publicize the change, but if so there are going to be a lot of surprised travelers.

This is what the Indonesian Embassy in Washington states on their website:
​​​​​​"Expiration date of the applicant's passport (full validity passport) must be at least 6 (six) months at the date of entry, which has at least one blank page for visa (amendment and endorsement pages cannot be used for visa). A limited validity passport is not accepted without a prior Indonesian visa."

If I were this traveler I would pursue the matter further with the airline and with the Indonesian Embassy (or Consulate near her). It's bad enough that she had to cancel her holiday trip. She shouldn't be penalized financially as well.

mrwunrfl

" Passport expiration date needed to be at least one year in advance of her planned return date..
Return date to USA ...Jan. 18, 2019 "
'
That would mean the required expiration date would need to be on/before Jan 18, 2018

crosscheck

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