I've never been to the US but I'll say what I think most people will say and that is that many airlines INSIST your passport has six months validity from the date of your return

Pippy

I'm pretty sure you can enter and exit the US as long as your passport is valid. However your airline may have different rules such as a 3 or 6 month validity and can refuse carriage if you do not comply.

Why not get your passport renewed in January. Apart from it being a quieter time of year for the passport office, they will add any remaining validity up to 9 months onto your new passport making your new passport valid for 10 years and 9 months.

luci

Well unless things have changed........

Our family went to Florida in May 2006 and again in August 2006. One of us had a passport that expired at the end of August and it wasn't a problem. To be on the safe side, best check with US embassy or the airline though.

Hi, we are going to florida in 4 weeks and had the same issue with my sisters passport expiring. We checked it out with my friend who works in the passport office who told me that you need more than 6 months left on your passport when returning to the UK from the U.S (different rules from EU) so you WOULD need to get a new passport for yout trip!!!! Don't worry about losing the remaining months on the passport as these will get carried over (e.g. if you have 5 months left and you get a 10 year passport the passport will be valid for 10 years and 5 months). Hope this helps :-)

Hi Catherine and welcome to HT!

Unfortunately the UK Passport Office has no say on the immigration rules for the US. That would be up to immigration at your point of entry and the US Embassy would be able to advise you.

luci

And as mentioned previously your airline may insist on a longer validity than the US immigration do.

i would just get it renewed,then there will be no problem.
i am sure i have read on here,of someone checking with the embassy & being told one thing,then the airline,refusing to let them fly,because their ruling on it,was completely different.
it's easier,to renew.
tracy

It has to be the new style passport now anyway... why take the risk. People HAVE turned up at the airport in USA and been put on the next plane back.... not worth the risk IMO.

Hi Luci, dont think i made myself clear :-) i didnt mean that the passport office had any say on US immigration, i just meant that they are kept up to date with these issues. However, iv just seen the last post by Cruella DeVille about having to have the new style passports (with the micro chips) which has slightly worried me as my passport doesnt expire until 2015, but isnt the style with a micro chip. Will i have a problem???

No it doesn't have to be the micro chip style yet, just so long as it is the machine readable passport... Don't worry. Sorry I didn't make myself clear.

Hi there, there are changes now and all visitors are required to complete a visitors visa on line, this should provide your passport info:
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html?_flowExecutionKey=_cAFA7162E-B74C-7244-CB2E-9B7B7BB7D735_k6BD876B6-2BA8-05E7-1086-275453512F7E

How easy is that site??? lol

Just registered me, my wife and our 2 kids in about 15 minutes.....absolute doddle!!

how far in advance can you fill in the forms for esta, i dont go till september?

audbod, you can fill in the esta form now and it will be valid for 2 years. Here's a link to faq questions regarding esta which might be useful:-

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/WebHelp/ESTA_Screen-Level_Online_Help_1.htm#How%20long%20is%20my%20travel%20authorization%20valid?

thanks for that newton, do you have to print it off right away or do they email it to you? dont have printer on this pc, hence the question.

You're welcome. You don't have to print anything off, you could just take a copy and paste of the print screen to save the confirmation number or make a note of the confirmation number but nothing needed to be printed.

Hi

Both our kids passports expired 4 months after the date we were due to come back from Florida. I checked out the airline (it was continental customer services in the USA) and the US embassy and also contacted the passport office here in the UK. Initially according to the airline (continental) I was told that the passports were ok for continental and also for getting in and out of the states, the us embassy said the same thing. I got mixed messages from the passport office, so I was no further forward. I thought we would be ok and decided to leave it. Anyway I still had a nagging doubt and decided to contact the airport we were flying from a few weeks before we were due to fly out, I spoke to staff at Continental customer service desk, I was told that the problem is not with the individual airlines or the entry and exit from the USA it is with the airport passport control in the UK. You must have 6 months validity on your passport regardless of who you are flying with and if not they have the right to refuse to let you fly. The person I spoke to informed me that they had in fact had people refused travel that particular week, which is why she was so sure.

I ended up having to get the passports renewed really quickly and had to pay considerably more for doing so. My advise is to renew them advance especially as they add on the months remaining. You will have peace of mind and not end up paying over the odds for renewing them at the last minute.

you must HAVE a certain amount before your passport runs out to enter the US. (Either 6 weeks or 6 months) in any case if you are not certain then renew it to be safe.

Call your airline or contact the US Embassy (London 020 7499-9000)

Your airline will refuse you to board and if you "slip through" the USCIS (Immigration dept of Office of Homeland Security) immigration officers will refuse you entry into the USA.