All of the world’s countries obviously have entry requirements for travelers. Unfortunately, there are an incredible number of travelers who are unaware of one of the most basic rules: passport validity rules, also called the 6-month (or 3-month) passport rule. This can cause them quite a problem!!!
No, you can’t use your passport until its expiration date! At least in most countries, including several very popular ones.
(And at the other extreme of those who don’t even know that validity rules exist, there are those who think these rules apply everywhere, which isn’t much better in terms of understanding the rules, honestly. For example: no, the United States doesn’t require any special validity duration! You can go there even if your passport expires tomorrow, as long as you tell them you’re returning today!!! I just tested it, by the way!)
Here’s our guide on passport validity rules.
What is the 6-month passport rule?
Many call it the 6-month rule, but it’s actually also 3 months in many countries (including almost all of Europe), or even another special duration in some rare cases.
Here are the basics of passport validity rules:
- Your passport is not necessarily usable until its expiration date
- Whether it’s a passport valid for 5 years or 10 years
- It depends on the countries (like all entry rules)
- You must always check the rules (the most basic thing)
- Most countries require a passport valid for 6 months or 3 months
- Either from your entry date into their country
- Or sometimes from your planned departure date from their country
- Some rules vary depending on the traveler’s nationality
- As with everything in life, taking the time to read well is vital
- This exists because countries are always very afraid that travelers won’t leave
- This is also why there’s no risk of entering the United States for a leisure trip
- None of the (rare) border problems that made the news were regular leisure trips
- The U.S. has always been very afraid of people who don’t leave (even before Trump)
If your passport isn’t good for the required duration, you won’t even be able to board the plane. Simple as that.
The rule makes sense (although it could be just 1 month to be more traveler-friendly, of course): Countries don’t want to be stuck with travelers who can’t get back home due to an expired passport.
How to check the 6-month passport rule?
Of course, simply renewing your passport before it’s 6 months from its expiration date is the simplest way to avoid any problems with validity rules… but sometimes that isn’t logistically possible, if you travel too much (like me), or for other reasons.
In those cases, you must obviously make sure that the country accepts passports that are close to their expiry date.
I remind you that checking a country’s entry requirements is literally the only mandatory step when preparing any trip! It’s the most basic thing, so we created an ultimate guide to country travel requirements.
Here, I’ll summarize the current situation (after a very quick and brief search) to give you a general idea.
But do not rely on this (or anything other than the official rules): always validate the most up-to-date and official rules at the right places listed in that guide; this rule can always change (as with all entry rules)!
Which countries have the 6-month passport rule?
Here are the countries that have the most restrictive rule, requiring a passport valid for 6 months from your planned departure date from their country.
- Bahamas 🇧🇸
- Bangladesh 🇧🇩
- Bhutan 🇧🇹
Here are the countries that require a passport valid for 6 months from your entry date into their country.
- Algeria 🇩🇿
- Angola 🇦🇴
- Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬
- Argentina 🇦🇷
- Azerbaijan 🇦🇿
- Bahrain 🇧🇭
- Bolivia 🇧🇴
- Botswana 🇧🇼
- Brazil 🇧🇷
- Brunei 🇧🇳
- Burundi 🇧🇮
- Cambodia 🇰🇭
- Cameroon 🇨🇲
- Cabo Verde 🇨🇻
- China 🇨🇳
- Colombia 🇨🇴
- Comoros 🇰🇲
- Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮
- Cuba 🇨🇺
- Djibouti 🇩🇯
- Dominica 🇩🇲
- Ecuador 🇪🇨
- Egypt 🇪🇬
- El Salvador 🇸🇻
- Equatorial Guinea 🇬🇶
- Eritrea 🇪🇷
- Ethiopia 🇪🇹
- Fiji 🇫🇯
- Gabon 🇬🇦
- Ghana 🇬🇭
- Grenada 🇬🇩
- Guatemala 🇬🇹
- Guinea 🇬🇳
- Guinea-Bissau 🇬🇼
- Guyana 🇬🇾
- Haiti 🇭🇹
- Honduras 🇭🇳
- India 🇮🇳
- Indonesia 🇮🇩
- Iran 🇮🇷
- Iraq 🇮🇶
- Israel 🇮🇱
- Jordan 🇯🇴
- Kenya 🇰🇪
- Kiribati 🇰🇮
- Kuwait 🇰🇼
- Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬
- Laos 🇱🇦
- Madagascar 🇲🇬
- Malawi 🇲🇼
- Malaysia 🇲🇾
- Mali 🇲🇱
- Marshall Islands 🇲🇭
- Mauritania 🇲🇷
- Mongolia 🇲🇳
- Mozambique 🇲🇿
- Myanmar 🇲🇲
- Namibia 🇳🇦
- Nepal 🇳🇵
- Nicaragua 🇳🇮
- Nigeria 🇳🇬
- Oman 🇴🇲
- Pakistan 🇵🇰
- Palau 🇵🇼
- Panama 🇵🇦
- Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬
- Peru 🇵🇪
- Philippines 🇵🇭
- Qatar 🇶🇦
- Russia 🇷🇺
- Rwanda 🇷🇼
- Saint Kitts and Nevis 🇰🇳
- Saint Lucia 🇱🇨
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 🇻🇨
- Samoa 🇼🇸
- Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
- Senegal 🇸🇳
- Sierra Leone 🇸🇱
- Singapore 🇸🇬
- Solomon Islands 🇸🇧
- Somalia 🇸🇴
- South Korea 🇰🇷
- South Sudan 🇸🇸
- Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
- Sudan 🇸🇩
- Suriname 🇸🇷
- Taiwan 🇹🇼
- Tajikistan 🇹🇯
- Tanzania 🇹🇿
- Chad 🇹🇩
- Thailand 🇹🇭
- Timor-Leste 🇹🇱
- Tonga 🇹🇴
- Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹
- Turkmenistan 🇹🇲
- Tuvalu 🇹🇻
- Uganda 🇺🇬
- United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪
- Vanuatu 🇻🇺
- Venezuela 🇻🇪
- Vietnam 🇻🇳
- Yemen 🇾🇪
- Zambia 🇿🇲
- Zimbabwe 🇿🇼
Which countries have the 3-month passport rule?
Here are the countries that require a passport valid for 3 months from your planned departure date from their country.
- Albania 🇦🇱
- Andorra 🇦🇩
- Austria* 🇦🇹
- Belarus 🇧🇾
- Belgium* 🇧🇪
- Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦
- Bulgaria* 🇧🇬
- Croatia* 🇭🇷
- Cyprus 🇨🇾
- Czechia* 🇨🇿
- Denmark* 🇩🇰
- Estonia* 🇪🇪
- Finland* 🇫🇮
- France* 🇫🇷
- Germany* 🇩🇪
- Greece* 🇬🇷
- Hong Kong 🇭🇰
- Hungary* 🇭🇺
- Iceland* 🇮🇸
- Italy* 🇮🇹
- Liechtenstein* 🇱🇮
- Lithuania* 🇱🇹
- Luxembourg* 🇱🇺
- Malta* 🇲🇹
- Moldova 🇲🇩
- Monaco 🇲🇨
- Montenegro 🇲🇪
- Netherlands* 🇳🇱
- New Zealand 🇳🇿
- North Macedonia 🇲🇰
- Norway* 🇳🇴
- Poland* 🇵🇱
- Portugal* 🇵🇹
- Romania* 🇷🇴
- Saint Lucia 🇱🇨
- San Marino 🇸🇲
- Serbia 🇷🇸
- Slovakia* 🇸🇰
- Slovenia* 🇸🇮
- Spain* 🇪🇸
- Sweden* 🇸🇪
- Switzerland* 🇨🇭
- Togo 🇹🇬
- Vatican 🇻🇦
*Schengen countries require a passport valid for 3 months from the date you intend to leave the EU
Here are the countries that require a passport valid for 3 months from your entry date into their country.
- Belize 🇧🇿
- Eswatini 🇸🇿
- Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
- Lebanon 🇱🇧
- Morocco 🇲🇦
- Nauru 🇳🇷
- Syria 🇸🇾
- Uzbekistan 🇺🇿
Which countries have other passport validity rules?
Here are the countries that require a passport valid for a specific period before expiration.
- Costa Rica 🇨🇷 (1 day after your planned departure date)
- Maldives 🇲🇻 (1 month from arrival date)
- Micronesia 🇫🇲 (120 days from arrival date)
- South Africa 🇿🇦 (30 days after departure)
- Türkiye 🇹🇷 (150 days from arrival date)
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Summary
The 6-month passport rule (or 3-month rule) stipulates that your passport must have a certain validity duration and is therefore not valid until its expiration date. The majority of countries have these rules, so it’s another example of why you must always do the only mandatory step for traveling, which is checking entry rules.
What would you like to know about the passport rules? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Paris, France (photo credit: Nick Da Fonseca)
