Think your passport is valid and ready to go for your next trip overseas? You may be wrong. Every day thousands of travelers get stuck at the airport due to issues with their passport. We will explain the four most common passport validity issues that might prevent you from making your next trip.
1. Your Passport Expires Too Soon
If your passport expires in the next six months, you may need to renew it before you can travel. Some countries have laws that prevent you from entering if your passport expires within three to six months of either the date you enter or the date you leave.
Show up at the airport with a passport that expires too soon, and you’ll be shown the door. If it expires in the next nine months, the State Department recommends you renew it now. Keep in mind that traditional passport renewal processing takes 6-8 weeks. If you need your passport sooner, call us today and renew your passport in two weeks or less.
If you have questions about a specific country’s entry requirements, refer to the Department of State’s website, or contact the country’s embassy or consulate.
2. You Don’t Have the Right Foreign Visas
With your US passport, you can visit 183 countries without needing to apply for a visa ahead of time. However, there are 196 countries in the world at the moment, give or take a few. You can get to a lot of different places with just a US passport, but you can’t get everywhere. You’ll need a visa to get into popular destinations like China, India, Brazil and Russia.
Visa regulations vary depending on which country you’re traveling to, and they can be quite complex. Contact an embassy or consulate for your destination country, or use a visa expediting service like RushMyTravelVisa.com.
3. You’re All Out of Blank Pages
The back of your passport hides another potential trouble spot. If you don’t have enough blank pages to get your passport stamped, you can’t travel with it. Some countries have visa stamps that take up an entire page or even two pages. If you are low on passport pages, you must apply for a passport renewal right away. The new passport books come with 52 pages so you won’t run out as fast.
4. Your Passport is Damaged
Finally, if your passport is damaged, it must be replaced before travel, even if the damage seems minor and all the information on the passport is legible.
For more information, see “What is a Damaged Passport?”
Don’t let passport validity issues prevent you from making your next international trip. If you need to renew or replace your passport, allow at least six to eight weeks for regular service and three weeks for expedited service if you’re using the post office. For faster service, call us today to get your application processed in as little as 24 hours with no need to make an appointment or travel to a passport agency.
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