mztery

I know that "legally" my passport only needs to be valid for 3 months to enter France - we are going for a quick last minute trip over July 4. My passport expires in November and I was going to renew it this month, but then this Paris trip came up. I don;'t want to do expedited service as it's very expensive and I'm worried I wouldn't have it back in time. So will the 4 month validity really be OK?

cbo86

I recently renewed my passport and did not use the expedited service since I was in no rush. Imagine my suprise when I got my new passport in 7 days(using snail mail). As far as validity each country is different, one could be 6 months another like France could be 3. If in doubt call the French Embassy or Consulate nearest you and ask.

J62

You also need to check with your airline. If won't do one bit if good if the embassy says it must be valid >3mo if the airline doesn't let you board the plane to Paris in the first place.

Underhill

Our passports came back in 5 days--you don't need the expedited service.

J62

Just because somebody else got theirs back in 5 days or 7 days doesn't mean you will get yours back in the same time.

Who knows if there was an increase in applications from when others applied to now, which passport did the processing, if the office will be shorthanded because of staff starting to take summer vacation, etc.

I think you would be foolish to bet the price of your vacation on getting it back with regular passport service with departure just a few weeks away.

What % of the price of your vacation is the difference in cost between regular and expedited service? Only you can decide if the risk is worth it to you.

mnss

When I entered France a couple of weeks ago, the cutoms officer never even stamped my passoport; As soon as he saw that it was American, he handed it back to me. They are very linient with American passport holders. But don´t quote me if your customs officer happens to be an a-hole...!

mztery

I really appreciate everyone who responds to my questions here on Fodors - thanks!

That said, I wasn't asking what the rules are about passports (Consulate says 90 days) ; or whether I should pay for the expedited service or not. (if I were going to send my passport in that this late date i definitely woud use expedited service)

My question was to see if anyone had had the experience that even though the regs say 90 days, having just over the 90 days (for me it will be about 120 days) be a problem. My preference is to not send my passport in at all , since I will be in much worse shape with no passport than with a passport with 4 moths validity. I was looking for any stories of French customs being aggrieved at the fact that my passport will expire relatively soon.

In addition, no airline is stricter than the country you are going to vis a vis passports. I did double check with United but i was pretty sure that's the case.

rogue

Hi mztery - I wonder if you ever resolved this? Or has anyone else been in this situation lately? I find I am in the same boat with a passport about to expire about 5 months after entry. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

Underhill

You might as well get your passports renewed. Peak travel season is over, and things seem to be moving very quickly with passport processing.

rogue

I definitely understand the might-as-well-renew attitude, and I whole heartedly agree with it. However, in this particular situation there are circumstances that would make getting the process done very difficult, so I'd like to consider other options. If anyone has come across any official sources from the host country itself (and not from the US state department via travel.state.gov) that could be shown to a wary immigrations official, I'd appreciate the post. Going to Italy, France, Switzerland and the UK. Thanks!

greg

I would add one more confusion to this discussion...

I have recently traveled with the new "chip" U.S. passport for the first time. I didn't like it. It is almost twice as thick as the old one and the covers are made out of non-flexible material. On top of this, non of the airport I went through used the chip capabilities.

Christina

Just wanted to add that the "customs officer" has nothing to do with your passport, as someone was saying above -- also, the idea that "custom officers" are lenient with Americans isn't the issue (as most people don't have anything to do with customs officers in Paris and nowadays they don't even make you fill out that form anymore). I was just in Paris and they did stamp my passport, actually (which surprised me) but I don't think whether they stamp it or not has anything to do with being "lenient" or not. Stamping something isn't particularly onerous.

I have gone to Europe with a passport valid for less than six months with no problem, but it was Spain, not France, so no experience there.

Underhill

You're more likely to have passport-date problems with the airlines than with French customs.