Passport Expiration/Validity

[Urscht]

Hi All,

 

We have a closed loop cruise to the Mexican Riviera on 1/29/23 departing from Los Angeles. One of the passengers in our party has a current passport which expires on 5/5/23, so is not valid 6 months at time of entry. The passenger also cannot find his birth certificate. When I asked a Princess representative, she said that the passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond completion of travel. 

 

When I researched this on www.travel.state.gov for travel in Mexico, it only states that Passport must be valid at time of entry. I also tried to go to the port in San Diego when a cruise ship was docked to ask immigration if the passport must be valid at least 6 months beyond trip completion, but security would not let me in the cruise terminal since I was not going on the cruise that day.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[GeezerCouple]

2 minutes ago, Urscht said:

Hi All,

 

We have a closed loop cruise to the Mexican Riviera on 1/29/23 departing from Los Angeles. One of the passengers in our party has a current passport which expires on 5/5/23, so is not valid 6 months at time of entry. The passenger also cannot find his birth certificate. When I asked a Princess representative, she said that the passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond completion of travel. 

 

When I researched this on www.travel.state.gov for travel in Mexico, it only states that Passport must be valid at time of entry. I also tried to go to the port in San Diego when a cruise ship was docked to ask immigration if the passport must be valid at least 6 months beyond trip completion, but security would not let me in the cruise terminal since I was not going on the cruise that day.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to CruiseCritic!

 

There are quite a few issues like this discussed on various places here on CC.

 

Please keep in mind that the traveler needs to abide by whatever "rules" or laws/regulations are applicable.  Not every group/company/country will have identical rules.

If you cruiseline states one thing, and it is longer than some other related entity states, then the cruiseline will rule.  You are contracting with *them*, and they set the terms, even if you could have flown directly to the foreign location with your current passport.

As long as the terms and conditions are not discriminatory or otherwise illegal (and this certainly doesn't sounf like it is), then you have no valid argument.  You could try to find a difference cruise line that has different requirements.  And note that there does seem to be some variation in the rules about this, from one cruise line to another.  (And that may or may not be possible.)

 

I'd suggest expediting a passport renewal.  They've got a month.

Good luck!

 

(And this could be used as a good lesson to all of your travel companions, and perhaps you if you are helping to organize this and future travel) to be sure everyone *reads* the "terms and conditions" when you first make the decision to travel, rather than waiting until the travel date approaches.  Unfortunately, this particular problem, like some others, isn't obvious unless someone has already encountered it... by reading about it, for example, or encountering it...)

 

GC

[sparks1093]

I'll take the other side and say that I would wait until after the trip to renew. Here's what Princess's FAQ says: Many countries require passports be valid for six months after the completion of your travel. Check your passport to verify it will be valid for this period of time. 

So what this is saying is if a country requires 6 months validity that's what you should have. The customer service agent was covering her behind with a general answer as she is trained to do. Since this is a closed loop cruise there will be many passengers onboard who are traveling with something other than a passport so it would be silly to require passport holders to have 6 months validity remaining.

[ontheweb]

Perhaps @Ferry_Watcher who checks peoples documents to board could best answer the question posed by the OP.

[Ferry_Watcher]

While I can really speak about the Alaska bound cruises, I can say that the check-in systems that the cruise lines use will accept any valid passport when it is scanned at the counter, or or read by a hand-held tablet, as long as the passport is still valid on the date of return.  One time I embarked a passenger whose passport expired the day after their cruise ended. 

 

On occasion, (sometimes on Royal) we will get an alert that a passport has less than six months remaining, and it pauses the check-in.  What then happens is the check-in agent can manually change the expiration date on the still valid passport by adding a month or two to make the system happy.  We often times have to do the same thing on US Permanent Residents Cards where the passenger has has an expired Green Card, but has paperwork showing that they have received a 12-24 month extension.  We saw a lot of these documents last season on due to the delays/backups from the pandemic.

 

I will say that the airlines are very different in the way they handle passengers traveling with less than 6 months remaining on their passport.  I have a family member who was denied by British Air at SeaTac (pre pandemic) because their passport had less than 6 months remaining.  I wouldn't worry about your closed loop cruise, but I wouldn't try to fly overseas with less than 6 months remaining. 

[Z'Loth]

Per Mexico government, "The Mexican government only requires that your passport must be valid during the entirety of your trip." Also, see this State Department info: "Passport must be valid at time of entry." The six-month validity rule does not apply here. 

 

 

 

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, Z'Loth said:

Per Mexico government, "The Mexican government only requires that your passport must be valid during the entirety of your trip." Also, see this State Department info: "Passport must be valid at time of entry." The six-month validity rule does not apply here. 

 

 

 

But, as noted, a cruise line can impose a stricter policy than the law.  

[njhorseman]

48 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

But, as noted, a cruise line can impose a stricter policy than the law.  

OP is sailing on Princess and Princess does not have a stricter policy. In fact they clearly state that a passport is not even required of US citizens for this type of itinerary. A passport is recommended, not required :

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/?accordion=travel-documents

 

 

US citizens traveling on U.S. roundtrip or “closed-loop” voyages may also travel with an original certified US birth certificate presented together with a valid US government-issued photo identification. These voyages include:
 

• Alaska roundtrip from San Francisco or Seattle (roundtrip Seattle cruisetours excluded)
• Canada/New England roundtrip from New York
• Caribbean roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale^ or New York
• Hawaii roundtrip from Los Angeles or San Francisco
• Mexico roundtrip from Los Angeles or San Francisco

 

[njhorseman]

8 hours ago, Urscht said:

Hi All,

 

We have a closed loop cruise to the Mexican Riviera on 1/29/23 departing from Los Angeles. One of the passengers in our party has a current passport which expires on 5/5/23, so is not valid 6 months at time of entry. The passenger also cannot find his birth certificate. When I asked a Princess representative, she said that the passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond completion of travel. 

 

When I researched this on www.travel.state.gov for travel in Mexico, it only states that Passport must be valid at time of entry. I also tried to go to the port in San Diego when a cruise ship was docked to ask immigration if the passport must be valid at least 6 months beyond trip completion, but security would not let me in the cruise terminal since I was not going on the cruise that day.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

A US citizen is not even required to have a passport for this itinerary, much less a passport with 6 months remaining validity . The passport is merely recommended by Princess, not required;

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/?accordion=travel-documents

US citizens traveling on U.S. roundtrip or “closed-loop” voyages may also travel with an original certified US birth certificate presented together with a valid US government-issued photo identification. These voyages include:

 

• Mexico roundtrip from Los Angeles or San Francisco

[Capt_BJ]

but read original post ... subject also has no valid birth cert . . .

 

One of the passengers in our party has a current passport which expires on 5/5/23, so is not valid 6 months at time of entry. The passenger also cannot find his birth certificate. 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Capt_BJ

[njhorseman]

34 minutes ago, Capt_BJ said:

but read original post ... subject also has no valid birth cert . . .

 

One of the passengers in our party has a current passport which expires on 5/5/23, so is not valid 6 months at time of entry. The passenger also cannot find his birth certificate. 

The passenger doesn't need the BC because their passport is still valid for the cruise they're taking.

 

I cited the rules on a birth certificate and ID being sufficient for this cruise in order to reinforce the reasoning why 6 months validity of the passport isn't needed. If you don't need a passport at all, you can't be required to have a passport with 6 months remaining validity. As long as the passport is valid through the cruise's disembarkation date it will be accepted.

[ldubs]

16 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I'll take the other side and say that I would wait until after the trip to renew. Here's what Princess's FAQ says: Many countries require passports be valid for six months after the completion of your travel. Check your passport to verify it will be valid for this period of time. 

So what this is saying is if a country requires 6 months validity that's what you should have. The customer service agent was covering her behind with a general answer as she is trained to do. Since this is a closed loop cruise there will be many passengers onboard who are traveling with something other than a passport so it would be silly to require passport holders to have 6 months validity remaining.

 

I tend to agree now is not the time to renew the passport.  Unless rules have changed  (or I misunderstand), once the renewal is started, the existing passport is no longer valid.  If there is a delay in issuing a new passport, then the traveler would be out of luck because they have no BC backup for this particular cruise.  Hopefully, someone will correct me if this is wrong.  

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, Capt_BJ said:

but read original post ... subject also has no valid birth cert . . .

 

One of the passengers in our party has a current passport which expires on 5/5/23, so is not valid 6 months at time of entry. The passenger also cannot find his birth certificate. 

Just as easy to get a replacement birth certificate as to renew a passport, if the need were there (which it isn't in this case).

[sparks1093]

5 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I tend to agree now is not the time to renew the passport.  Unless rules have changed  (or I misunderstand), once the renewal is started, the existing passport is no longer valid.  If there is a delay in issuing a new passport, then the traveler would be out of luck because they have no BC backup for this particular cruise.  Hopefully, someone will correct me if this is wrong.  

It is my understanding that is how it is supposed to work (and unused time remaining on the passport is lost, it isn't put onto the new passport. Not a big deal by any stretch of the imagination but I'm the guy that uses a vise grip to get the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube). 

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, Capt_BJ said:

but read original post ... subject also has no valid birth cert . . .

 

One of the passengers in our party has a current passport which expires on 5/5/23, so is not valid 6 months at time of entry. The passenger also cannot find his birth certificate. 

There really should be no problem with not being able to find a birth certificate since it is easy enough to get a duplicate.

 

DW found when applying for a passport that she did not have her valid birth certificate. Her mother had sent her the hospital one and had thrown away the official one. Knowing when and where she was born made it easy to request an official duplicate copy.

[njhorseman]

9 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I tend to agree now is not the time to renew the passport.  Unless rules have changed  (or I misunderstand), once the renewal is started, the existing passport is no longer valid.  If there is a delay in issuing a new passport, then the traveler would be out of luck because they have no BC backup for this particular cruise.  Hopefully, someone will correct me if this is wrong.  

 

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

It is my understanding that is how it is supposed to work (and unused time remaining on the passport is lost, it isn't put onto the new passport. Not a big deal by any stretch of the imagination but I'm the guy that uses a vise grip to get the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube). 

You have to include your old passport with the application for the renewal passport so you won't even have the old passport in your possession once you apply for the renewal. 

And yes, you lose any time remaining on the old passport. When you get it back it will have been invalidated by having holes punched in it.