Passports and traveling to Italy Help!
 

Was reading a DK Eyewitness book and it stated you must have a passport for at least 5 months or you can not travel to Italy. Has anyone ever heard of this?

Im going in March and won't have the passports til mid January. (was a present)

Any web sites to back this up or tell me it isn't correct?

This might be a good place to start:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

I believe it means your passport must have at least 5 months LEFT on it......so when you receive a 5 year passport it's good from the first day you receive it until your down to only 5 months left and then they want you to have a replacement.

My daughter went to Hong Kong with her visa at 6 months to expirey and they had a hassle all the time over it.

Yours being brand new will be just fine! I hope you have a wonderful trip...I wish you sunshine and gentle breazes.

My understanding is that your passport needs to be valid for 6 months after you return from your trip in order to enter some countries, i.e., don't take one that's about to expire in the next few months. If the DK Eyewitness book says you have to have it for 5 months before you leave, then that's just plain wrong information.

ok so I was reading it wrong? It says

" A passport with a minimum five months validity is necesssary for nationals of all countries entering Italy."

SO am I just a newbie travelers who hopefully can't read?

The websites you should check are the US State Department and possibly the Italian Consulate, not travel websites.
www.state.gov. I've never heard of this requirement and think perhaps you have confused it with needing 6 months left on your passport from your return date.

If the last remark was directed to me - the url I gave is from the U.S. Department of State and takes you directly to the location on their site that deals with travel related issues. You can get to the same page by going to http://www.state.gov/ and clicking several links.

The remark was about me not anyone else,I;m the total Newb when it comes to traveling outside the US.

Sorry if it came across any other way.

Reckoning, I can see the confusion in the phrase you cited. It is ambiguous. It could be read to mean 5 months validity before you leave, or 5 months remaining on it when you leave. It's poorly written. A brand new valid passport is all you need, as it will obviously have plenty of time remaining on it.

I'll validate with the last responder. Your passport must be have 5 months, or more, remaining from the day you enter Italy. Actually the requirement is now the same for all EU countries. So relax and enjoy La Bella Italia, you'll love it and you'll be back...

Reckoning - It's clear (to most of us) that several of us were entering responses to you at the same time.

Be sure to make a copy of your passport and leave with someone at home in case of theft. It's also helpful to carry a copy with you.

" A passport with a minimum five months validity is necesssary for nationals of all countries entering Italy."

Five months into the future, validity left before it expires - alles klar?

WK

First, this sentence - wherever it comes from - is simple balderdash:
" A passport with a minimum five months validity is necesssary for nationals of all countries entering Italy." Whoever said it, was making it up and is an untrustworthy source. Be very cautious about believing anything else from them

There is not, and by law CANNOT be, any minimum validity requirement on document validity for EU citizens. Non-Schengen EU citizens require only a valid passport or ID card to enter Italy. Citizens of Schengen countries require only a national ID card.

Second, the sentences "Your passport must have 5 months, or more, remaining from the day you enter Italy. Actually the requirement is now the same for all EU countries" are also claptrap. The EU has no status in this matter, and there is NO common rule shared by the 25 sovergeign states about ANY immigration requirement. It is, for example, most certainly the case that the UK (which, however much we all deplore it, was still an EU member this morning) has no minimium passport validity rule for foreigners that do not require a visa.

Third, I can find no reputable source for the alleged requirement that Italy imposes ANY minimum validity rule on the passports of non-visa nationals, such as Americans or Australians. No Italian embassy or consular site in the UK, US or Canada mentions any such requirement (though they DO mention that visa nationals - such as Iranians - neeed a passport with THREE months' minimum validity after the proposed date of departure). Nor does the ENIT site make any mention of this urban myth.

Maybe the Italians do impose such rules. But what's the evidence for it, and why are they keeping it secret?

Flanner isn't quite correct, either. I'm quoting from the US Government site that was put in place to inform travelers going to Italy to attend the Olympics,

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...pics_2754.html

[begin quote] You will need a valid U.S. passport to travel. Italian border officials routinely require Americans entering the country to have six months of validity remaining on their passports. Schengen rules, which govern European Union countries, require that a passport be valid for a minimum of three months after the date of departure from a Schengen country. [end quote]

That adds up to the same thing - six months - since you're allowed 90 days in the Schengen-EU as a tourist, and need three months validity beyond that.

That said, our original poster still has nothing to worry about, since the nearly new passport will certainly be valid no matter what.

WK