This is probably a stupid question, but after checking the State Dept. website, I still don't have an answer. We are U.S. citizens & have U.S. Passports issued in 2001 and valid til 2011. I recall reading a while back something about passports having to be updated???? Does anyone know about this? Am I possibly thinking about when passports were recently required to enter Canada & Mexico? Any knowledgeable insight will be greatly appreciated.

your passport is legal and fine.

your passport if fine. no updates needed. perhaps by 2011 it won't take 2-3 months for the renewal process.

I've been travelling with the passport issued in 1997. It will expire in December 2007, this is when I will need to renew.

You are fine with the passport issued in 2001.

Maybe you heard a passport must be up-to-date, meaning at least 6 month till its expiration date by the time you're back from a trip?

And no, this is not a stupid question, this is a regular travel question very appropriate for this website.

Thank you all for your answers. I am very relieved. What intelligent, knowledgable travelers you all are!

Faina - since you are a frequent flyer on this forum, I probably don't need to warn you - but I will anyway - December 2007 is not that far off and some countries will not honor a passport with less than 3 months left on it. You may enter the world of passport renewal nightmare stories now.

Gail, yes, thank you, this is on my high priority list, and my next vacation will be probably in October. Printed the forms already, need to figure out which post office to go to.

This and 2 dental crowns

You are lucky you only have to renew your pp very 10 years in the US. In Canada we have to do it every 5 years!

Faina - from what I have been hearing, the passport renewal is likely to be more traumatic than the dental crowns (never Amazing that after dental crowns you still have money left to travel - I thought only your dentist would be able to afford a trip.

I'm fairly certain a U.S. passport is either valid or it's not. I have never heard of "updating"... Other that getting a new one before the old one expires (good to do it 6-12 months in advance of the expiration date).

The new passports issued since last fall are slightly different from the older ones. I'm not sure - perhaps they have an embedded chip or magnetic strip. But there is no need to update your old passport for a newer one until it expires.