We leave for Austria/Czech Republic in 20 days. My husband's passport expires 80 days after our return. When I asked at U.S. State Dept. earlier in the year, they said this would not be a problem. Now I see from several Czech internet sites that the passport must be valid, some say 90 days after return, some 6 months. The Czech Rep. Embassy in DC told me the immigration inspectors "usually" accept evidence of a return flight back home to demonstrate that the stay in CZ will be on a valid passport. Anyone experience similar situation to set our minds at ease? Or should we seek to renew under expedited service?

I've always had sufficiently-long validity in my passport so have not encounteres the problem. But ... if it were me, I'd go for expedited renewal. The US is not the problem of course, and please note the "usually" in what the Czech embassy spokesperson said -- it was not a guarantee. With the time and money, to say nothing of the planning, at stake, why take the chance?!

Why you would consider the opinion or experience of anyone here to be more valid that what you've been told by an embassy official is totally incomprehensible to me.

Bootman, have you never experienced a situation where the information you got from a government "official" was wrong? I was trying to see if anyone had ever been in our situation before and had it work out ok. In any event, my husband will likely do the expedited renewal service -- which, by the way, the State Dept. website says is "usually" returned in 2 weeks. We leave in 3 weeks.

Let me clarify my previous remark..if there is a problem it will be between you and the Customs official and nothing anyone at the Embassy has told you will make any difference nor will anyone's experience here. Sounds as if you want someone here to "set your mind at ease" by telling you it is OK to take a chance and I agree with the poster who said that it is foolish to do so.
Yes, I've experienced "official" comments ending up being incorrect and you've obviously thought of that possibility, also, so why are you asking for opinions? You've got a chance to rectify a potentially devastating omission in your travel plans by NOT being aware soon enough that the passport is about to expire...or would you rather wait a few MORE days until 30 people here tell you to renew the document? Worse yet, what if a lot of people tell you not to? Then what?

Peace of mind is priceless. Renew the passport.

We went to Prague on 5/14/03. Our passports were due to expire in July 2003. We renewed. Didn't want to take any chances. However, our decision to do so was made much longer in advance of our departure date than your current situation. It's unfortunate you waited so long to act, but you should be able to do the renewal as suggested above.

My initial mistake was relying on the information given by Czech desk of US State Dept who said there were no such requirements. Oh well.

Now, here I go again, risking incurring the rancor of other responses, but I'll ask for the experience of others in this regard: has anyone else renewed passport by mail using expedited service and NOT received the renewed passport within 2 weeks. We have the apparent option of sending off passport on Monday by mail, taking the chance that it "usually" will be returned to us in time. Or, we can try to renew in person at Passport Office in DC, however, it appears they will not provide service unless you are in a 2-week time frame, so for that we would have to wait even longer before attempting to renew, but at least we wouldn't relinquish the passport and place it in the hands of the USPS.

Just looking for thoughts and experience to weigh the options -- promise I am not looking for any guarantees or mandates on what we should do.

Hi Barbra,

Send your passport by registered mail or through FedEx or UPS. You will get confirmation that it was received.

I have done this, and it worked out OK.

Your last response I think shows you have answered your own question. You are not in an optimal situation whichever way you slice it, but you can minimize (not eliminate) the risks. Go and get waited on in person, even if it means waiting longer. You do not want to relinquish control of your passport until you are certain you are getting a new one that day - better an iffy passport than none at all.

80 days 100% guaranteed

ooops meant 90..

British citizens need at least 90 days remaining on their passport beyond the
expected length of their stay.

American citizens need at least 90 days remaining on their passport beyond the
expected length of their stay.

Foreign visitors requiring a visa to the Czech Republic must have a passport valid at least 270 days beyond the time of their planned stay in the Czech Republic.

Immigration officers may require a foreign visitor arriving in the Czech Republic to produce a certificate of travel health insurance for the intended time of stay.
Further information is available at: www.mzv.cz

Also, if you are Canadian you need a visa for the Czech Republic.
to the Czech Republic must have a passport valid at least 270 days beyond the time of their planned stay in the Czech Republic.

Immigration officers may require a foreign visitor arriving in the Czech Republic to produce a certificate of travel health insurance for the intended time of stay.
Further information is available at: www.mzv.cz

Also, if you are Canadian you need a visa for the Czech Republic.

I don't think anyone should be shamed or pressed to apologize for asking a question here, no matter what other sources of information might be also available, even if they might be more likely accurate. It's not in the Fodorite "spirit," for one thing, or shouldn't be.

For another, it's more than safe to assume that this is just one of several places we might eventually go -- in this case just a starting point. I can completely imagine being in a situation where I'd gotten "official" word about something and thinking it's possible there's a problem with this and asking if anyone else here has had experience that might be relevent. If you can't be helpful to another poster yourself, that doesn't mean the question shouldn't have been asked here.

So, here's the advice you're getting Barbara: don't wait, get the expedited renewal. No "official" will tell you you shouldn't do that and, if you don't, some "official" might very well tell you should have.

I would guess that there are companies in whatever city that you live in that can "guarantee" the expedited passport. I was married and moved to England two weeks after my wedding and needed to have my passport renewed with my new name. It cost about $150 but was will worth the service. (I don't remember the name of the company that did it, but I used a service provided by my employer)

Yesterday, we mailed passport plus expedited fee and renewal application via USPS Express Mail (and prepaid Express Mail return mail)to the agency that handles mail renewals. The Postal service person told us it would be quicker if we mailed it ourselves rather than have them process the renewal. She indicated we might have the renewed passport back by the end of this week. I don't know if we were crazy to have sent it off by mail or not, given that we need it on the 27th, bearing in mind generalized mistrust of "official" information about the "usual" expedited processing time. I'll post again when we have the renewed passport in hand, in case anyone is curious as to the amount of time its take at least one person to get back renewed passport by expedited service, overnight mail. Thanks to all for the suggestions and information.

Everyone cross your fingers.

Although this advice is too late to be of any use to Barbara, a colleague of my wife used a company called Passport Express to expedite her renewal when she realized a week before she was scheduled to travel to the UK that her passport had expired. My wife said that she got her new passport in about two days, but she paid dearly for it - I believe it was about $110 above the normal government fee (which I am guessing is about $60). In case anyone stumbles on this thread months or years from now during a desperate search for tips for a quick passport renewal, their website is www.passportexpress.com. If anyone does use this company, please post the details of your experience.

Just to follow up on this, we mailed my husband's passport off on Monday (6/9) for expedited renewal, via express mail, and today (6/14), we received the renewed passport (via prepaid express mail). Enormously relieved, to say the least, to know the system works.