passport expiration question
 

I received my tickets from my travel agent this weekend for a trip to the Dominican Republic for 10/29. My question is I received a book of tips from the travel agent and in it it said that you must have a passport with an expiration date more than 6 months after your return date. I had thought I had heard of this before (it may be from the same book for last years vacation) and asked the travel agent when we booked and was told it was not a problem(if it was going to be I still at that point had time to renew). I once again confirmed that he didnt think it was a problem today after reading the tips book. Has anyone heard of this before or had problems in the past. My passport expires 3/23/06 and I have a trip scheduled to Mexico 2/4-18/2006 and was planning on renewing after the Mexico trip as I wanted to make sure there wouldnt be any timing problems between trips. Any information or experiences would be very much appreciated.

I would renew it a month or so before you go. When I remnewed mine, I had it within about two weeks. I was surprised to get it that fast.

I would call their respective embassy/consulate to verify, but I don't think either of these countries has a 6 month validity requirement.

It depends on Mexico's requirements, according to the U.S. State Dept.
Personally, I wouldn't wait a month before the trip to do it. You just never know what can go wrong. You'd be sending your passport to a govt. agency after all. I'd send it in at least 2 months before.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/...ures_1229.html

"Some countries require that your U.S. passport be valid at least 6 months or longer beyond the dates of your trip. If your passport expires before the required validity, you will have to apply for a new one. Please check with the Embassy or nearest Consulate of the country that you plan to visit for their requirements."

thanks for all your help and suggestions. Nadia02, I actually looked on the website and didnt see anything. Thanks for pointing it out. I will check with each country. I agree about not wanting to send it out with only a month before the trip. I am even leary about the 2 1/2 months between trips. That is why I was going to do it when I get back from Mexico.

francot,
In case you decide to renew before you go, there's expedited service (3 working days turn around time) for an extra $60 per passport. I always use expedited service when renewing my passport. I know most people get them back in two weeks with regular service but I always worry that it'll take longer.

Patty, I think I will wait until after this trip. But I think I will do it before Mexico in Feb. What is the name of the company you use? It might be worth it just so I dont have to worry like you said. Thanks.

Sorry for the confusion. I don't use a company. I simply send it directly to the National Passport Center in Pittsburgh and request expedited service. The $60 extra is what the State Dept charges for faster processing. See here for more info -

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get...first_831.html

I also send my passport in via an overnight delivery service and enclose a prepaid overnight envelope/label for its return.

Total time including overnight mail back and forth is about 1 week.

thanks for the information Patty.

Just renew the passport now. Your new passport begins when the passport that you now have expires. Why wait until the last minute to do this?

Your new passport begins whenever the passport office reissues it, not when your last one expires. So a US passport is essentially only good for 9.5 years for anyone who needs to travel to countries with a 6 month validity requirement.

Or I should say issue not reissue since you get an entirely new passport with a new number.