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Passport processing times are back to normal after big delays in 2023, making it less likely travelers will miss a visit due to a stalled renewal.
Nonetheless, one other common passport snafu threatens to upend your trip overseas — and it involves passports that have not yet expired but are near doing so.
Many countries require that Americans have at the very least a couple of months of validity remaining on their U.S. passport so as to travel there, or to secure a visa to that country.
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For instance, the Schengen Area, which encompasses 27 European nations, requires a U.S. passport be valid for at the very least 90 days beyond the tip of your trip (i.e., your return date), in accordance with the State Department.
Many countries within the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions require at the very least six months of validity for permission to enter. Other areas like Hong Kong require one month.
What this implies: Gatekeepers like border officials will deny travel in case your passport doesn’t have a specific amount of validity remaining. Some airlines won’t even allow you to board the flight. In these cases, your nonexpired passport would cost you a vacation.
The requirement “trips a number of people up,” said Charles Leocha, president and co-founder of Travelers United, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Do not forget visas, too
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Here’s the rationale for the rule: When traveling to Europe, for instance, a sound U.S. passport allows tourists to remain for as much as 90 days with out a visa. Border officials “often assume you’ll stay the utmost 90 days, even when this is just not your intention,” in accordance with the State Department.
It is important to do not forget that certain countries may require travelers to secure a separate visa for entry — typically at a further cost, Leocha said. Brazil, for instance, is reinstating a visa requirement for Americans on April 10. (It costs U.S. residents $80.90 and lasts for 10 years.)
Travelers can find passport-validity and visa requirements for specific countries on the State Department website.
When to renew your passport
“It’s just really essential to plan ahead,” said Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet.
She recommends applying for a latest passport if it can expire inside a yr.
A conventional passport — a passport book — costs $130 for adults. First-time applicants must pay a further $35 acceptance fee. Travelers may also pay more for faster service: Expedited passport processing costs an additional $60.
Passports are generally valid for 10 years. (They’re only valid for five years if the traveler was under age 16 when it was issued.)
Passport processing times are back to normal
Passport processing delays stymied many travelers last yr as a historic volume of applications stressed government resources. The U.S. State Department issued greater than 24 million passport books and cards throughout the 2023 fiscal yr (from October 2022 to September 2023), a record high.
Processing times ballooned to 10 to 13 weeks for a routine passport application, and 7 to nine weeks for an expedited passport.
By comparison, it took six to eight weeks for routine service and two to 3 weeks for expedited service before the Covid-19 pandemic. The State Department has returned to that pre-pandemic norm, it announced Dec. 18.
Processing times don’t account for mailing. It could actually take the federal government as much as two weeks to receive an application, and one other two weeks for travelers to get their latest passport.
Almost half, 48%, of Americans have a passport, up from 5% in 1990, the State Department said. There are greater than 160 million valid U.S. passports in circulation, nearly double the quantity from 2007.
