Quick passport renewal

[sopo1953]

Sent my passport renewal in on February 18th and got my new passport today! Less than a month. All ready to try it out! :)

[gwb3636]

Thanks for the info as I just mailed mine for renewal last week and I sail on Apr 26. But it didn't expire till July. Did yours renew from the day it expired? I'm wondering if I lose those months.

[capriccio]

Thanks for the info as I just mailed mine for renewal last week and I sail on Apr 26. But it didn't expire till July. Did yours renew from the day it expired? I'm wondering if I lose those months.

 

Yes you do. The passport is good for 10 years minus one day from the date of issue - and if you are planning to travel on the last 6 months of a passport you are advised to renew before traveling because some countries will not accept a passport that close to expiration. Following that recommendation, your passport is only good for 9 and 1/2 years.

 

From the State Department's official website: http://www.state.gov/travel/

 

"When does your passport expire? Some countries require that a traveler’s passport be valid for at least six months beyond the dates of the trip. Contact the embassy of your foreign destination for more information. Foreign embassy and consulate contact information can also be found in our Country Specific Information pages."

[sweetsleep]

Sadly, the 6 months rule is alive and well.

My sister and my niece left on Saturday for a spring break choral tour in Europe-2 of the 60+ people in their group were denied boarding on the plane as one student had a passport expiring 12 days after the return date and one teacher had a passport expiring in May!

They were given VERY poor advice about passport expiration dates and blindly believed what they were told.

So yes, your passport for INTERNATIONAL travel really is only valid for 91/2 years from your RETURN date to the US! You can still use it to prove US citizenship and for travel in the US, but don't expect an expiration date of LESS than 6 months to allow you on a plane outside the US.

They found out the hard way!

[Colo Cruiser]

That was quick.

[CaptainKlutz]

We had to renew our passports last year. I wound up paying for expedited service because the 6-week lead time they suggested would about run into the cruise we scheduled at the last minute. It was the price I paid for hating the photo I had taken before the darn things expired.:eek:

 

I sent them together in a single Express Mail envelope.

 

We got both passports back in 6 days! They didn't even make it on to the State Dept tracking website and we had them in our hands. I was very impressed.

[hansi]

Yes you do. The passport is good for 10 years minus one day from the date of issue - and if you are planning to travel on the last 6 months of a passport you are advised to renew before traveling because some countries will not accept a passport that close to expiration. Following that recommendation, your passport is only good for 9 and 1/2 years.

 

From the State Department's official website: http://www.state.gov/travel/

 

"When does your passport expire? Some countries require that a traveler’s passport be valid for at least six months beyond the dates of the trip. Contact the embassy of your foreign destination for more information. Foreign embassy and consulate contact information can also be found in our Country Specific Information pages."

 

It's different in the UK. We still have the six month rule, but if you buy a new passport after your current one expires, it's valid for ten years, but they also add on the unexpired period of your last passport, if that makes sense;)

[gwb3636]

I must admit I was not happy about having to renew so soon as it's not cheap. In addition on our very first cruise not knowing what could happen we sailed using our birth certificates and driver's license (Caribbean). It is my understanding you really don't need a passport on what it is called - a closed loop sailing (returning to same US port). We didn't fly but if there had been some sort of deal where they had to fly you home from a port like that Carnival situation I guess we would have been in dire straights.