Passports

[Lynda and David]

Hello, Does anyone know why the cruise companies ask that there is 6 months validity in your passport after your return date from a cruise?

Our passports both expire on 14th March 2016 and we would like to book Ventura going to the Canary Islands on 31st October. Does this mean that we have to get new passports before that cruise? If it does its a bit of a nuisance as we are on Oriana returning on 10th September and means we will only have 7 weeks to get new passports.

Many thanks


Lynda

[qbman1]

I always believed it to cover any eventualities that may prevent you returning home on time. For instance, if you were hospitalised overseas, etc

I agree it is a pain as mine runs until March but I will need to get a new one to travel at Christmas

[Jacknian]

Yes you do need a new passport , ours ran out in march this year but we had to get a new one for our cruise last September. I checked with P&O and they said definitely need a new one but the person on the phone only said it is a requirement of some of the countries that are visited that there is at least 6 months validity still on the passport.

[Jacknian]

By the way our new passport only took 2 weeks to come so you should have plenty of time.

[barney]

don't worry about it Lynda

7 weeks is plenty of time

Like Jacknian mine came back in less than two weeks

[oldbluefox]

You are allowed to renew your passport 9 months beforehand and any outstanding time is added to your new one. Could you renew it now?

[Manoverboard]

You are allowed to renew your passport 9 months beforehand and any outstanding time is added to your new one. Could you renew it now?

Just done that and one can get a faster turnaround for an ' adjustment ' of the procedure and the fee.

ps ... we used the new improved online method, as per,

https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport

[ITWA Travel Writer]

As a travel writer I have often been asked this question and following my enquirers with many different embassies I have managed to piece together a basic understanding.

Your passport is a legal document provided by your own country giving you the authority of your own country to travel across international borders. It does not automatically give you the right of entry into a foreign country.

Below is a list of criteria as explained to me:

1. If your passport is expired, suddenly you are in an unlawful situation. Your own country effectively says that your document is not a valid travel document.

2. If your passport becomes an invalid document, then how does the country at the point of entry get you home? Unless you're just entering a neighbouring country and can just pop back across the border, it's now nearly impossible to leave that foreign country, as you'd have to travel through another country which won't accept an illegal document. You become an illegal immigrant.

3. Airlines, if they let you travel without a valid visa/passport, are made to bring you back at their own expense. So they won't want take the risk and are often the instigators of passport validity periods.

These are the main reasons, given by foreign embassies, when asked about the six month rule. This, however, raises the question as to why six months? I know of several countries who do not have this time limit. Let me once again list their main reasons.

1. First, a lot of the countries that have these limits offer six month visas. Meaning you could stay right up to the day of departure. Every day that you get closer to departure risks you having an invalid passport if you overstay even a day.

2. For most countries, just having an arbitrary limit aims to prevent any overstay issues.

3. Once you become an over stayer, by law they'd have to deport you, which could be tricky if you're ill. Imagine the situation where you're stricken with, say, swine flu, your passport has expired, and you get deported. Think of all the legal ramifications in deporting someone.

4. Once you have been classed within the international border systems worldwide as an over stayer you will be placed on record and find that some countries will almost certainly preclude you from ever entering them again!!


Each country deals with all this in different ways, but the 'six month rule' is more and more being adopted to make it easier for all to understand.

[Lynda and David]

Thank you everyone for your help. As its only 7 weeks to our Oriana cruise and a busy period for the Passport Office we have decided to get the forms and fill them in then as soon as we are back in September make an appointment with the Victoria Passport Office to go and get our passports direct from them. We know it costs more this way but the last time we renewed it took 5 attempts before they would accept my picture. Every time they found a fault with the picture, even the one I got taken by Snappy Snaps passport service.

Regards

Lynda

[ITWA Travel Writer]

With the state of the world and travel at this point in time I think that is a very wise decision Lynda.

[Boris+]

Firstly, yes, from end of validity of your current passport to the date of the cruise you want to book means that you will have to have new passports.

I did my passport earlier this year, and I wasn't happy at all about sending off the photos without being allowed to attach them to anything - but it worked really fine and I got my new passport back really quickly. I did my application online, and it was quick and easy. As I said, I did worry about sending off forms and photos in an envelope with no sticky tape, staples or paperclips allowed - but all was ok. My only other comment was that the new passport was supposed to be delivered by a courier etc - and what happened ........ some bloke ran around to the front door, shoved the envelope through the letterbox and then took a photo of the front door. I don't call that very 'secure' - so when you see on the website (if you do it online) that the new passport has been dispatched, just keep an eye out for it!

Fingers crossed everything will be ok for you - have a great cruise.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I did mine using the online form and the Post Office check and dispatch service and got it back very quickly with no hiccup.

[Silver_Shiney]

Many thanks for your clear and helpful explanation, John

[Lynda and David]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I'll have a look at the on-line form, if it saves us having to go to the Passport Office that would be a great help.

Lynda

[Lynda and David]

Hello

I thought I'd give a quick update on our passport renewals. We took the forms, photos and old passports to our local Post Office late afternoon on Tuesday, 22nd September, the forms and photos were checked and sent off, we received our new passports just one week later delivered by courier on Tuesday, 29th September. Fantastic service, don't know why I was panicking.

Regards


Lynda

[oldbluefox]

Good news Lynda. Glad it all sorted itself out in the end.

[GillD46]

They seem very efficient right now, mine was back within the week too.

[CaroleF]

Not really directly to do with the subject but a while ago now when we needed to change our old paper driving licences for photo card ones I was doing this online and discovered that if I had a passport I did not need to have a new photo taken for the driving licence, all I had to do was to give my passport number and somehow my photo was taken from that and put onto the new driving licence - all very scary I thought!

[david63]

Not really directly to do with the subject but a while ago now when we needed to change our old paper driving licences for photo card ones I was doing this online and discovered that if I had a passport I did not need to have a new photo taken for the driving licence, all I had to do was to give my passport number and somehow my photo was taken from that and put onto the new driving licence - all very scary I thought!

Not quite true. Your photo, I believe, must be no more than three years old.