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Passport validity checker: how much time you need left before you travel
The passport in your drawer can be valid and still not be enough. Most refusals at the check-in desk are arithmetic, not bad luck: a destination wants six months of validity from the day you arrive, or three months past the day you leave, and the expiry date printed in the book misses it by a fortnight. Put your dates in below and the answer takes a few seconds.
Rules for 27 destinations, each checked against an official source on 27 July 2026.
Check your passport against your destination
Enter the expiry date printed in your passport and the dates of your trip. QueueCheck applies the destination’s stated validity rule, shows the date your passport has to reach, and says how many days of margin you have.
Add your passport expiry date and departure date to see the answer. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored; the check runs in your browser.
Validity rules for 27 destinations, each checked against the source linked beside the result. Validity is one entry requirement among several, so a passing result here does not remove the need for a visa or a travel authorisation.
Where the six-month rule comes from, and why it is not universal
There is no world passport law. Each country decides how much validity it wants a visitor to hold, and the six-month convention spread because it gives a border authority a cushion: if a visitor overstays, falls ill, or has to be removed, the passport is still a usable travel document months later. Around 10 of the destinations on this page apply that convention as a hard requirement measured from the day you arrive.
The convention is not the only model. The European Union built a different one for the Schengen area: three months beyond your intended departure, plus an issue date inside the previous ten years. Another 7 destinations here, the United Kingdom and Canada among them, ask only that the passport cover the visit itself. The same passport can therefore be comfortably valid for a week in Dublin and refused for a week in Bangkok.
What makes the rule bite is who enforces it. Airlines are fined by destination governments for carrying a passenger who is refused entry, and they pay to fly that passenger home, so check-in staff apply validity rules conservatively. A traveller arguing at the desk that the official requirement is only three months is usually right and still not boarding. That is why this checker reports a thin margin as a warning rather than a pass.
Passport validity requirements by destination
Every rule the checker uses, with what it measures and the source it was checked against. Where a destination’s stated minimum is thinner than what is actually advised, a second line gives the figure to plan against, because the number that gets you refused is the one the desk agent applies rather than the one in the regulation.
Africa
| Destination | Validity required | Also check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | 6 months from arrival | 1 blank page | US Department of State: Egypt country information |
| South Africa | 1 month beyond departure | 2 blank pages | US Department of State: South Africa country information |
Americas
| Destination | Validity required | Also check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Valid for the duration of your stayPlan for 6 months | Validity only | US Department of State: Brazil country information |
| Canada | Valid for the duration of your stay | Validity only | US Department of State: Canada country information |
| Mexico | Valid for the duration of your stayPlan for 6 months | Validity only | US Department of State: Mexico country information |
| United States | 6 months beyond departure | Validity only | US Customs and Border Protection: six-month passport validity |
Asia
| Destination | Validity required | Also check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| China (mainland) | 6 months from arrival | 2 blank pages | US Department of State: China country information |
| India | 6 months from arrival | 2 blank pages | US Department of State: India country information |
| Indonesia | 6 months from arrival | 2 blank pages | US Department of State: Indonesia country information |
| Japan | Valid for the duration of your stayPlan for 6 months | Validity only | US Department of State: Japan country information |
| Philippines | 6 months from arrival | Validity only | US Department of State: Philippines country information |
| Singapore | 6 months from arrival | Validity only | US Department of State: Singapore country information |
| Thailand | 6 months from arrival | Validity only | US Department of State: Thailand country information |
| Vietnam | 6 months from arrival | 2 blank pages | US Department of State: Vietnam country information |
Europe
| Destination | Validity required | Also check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 3 months beyond departurePlan for 6 months | Issued within 10 years | US Department of State: France country information |
| Germany | 3 months beyond departurePlan for 6 months | Issued within 10 years | US Department of State: Germany country information |
| Greece | 3 months beyond departurePlan for 6 months | Issued within 10 years | US Department of State: Greece country information |
| Ireland | Valid for the duration of your stay | Validity only | US Department of State: Ireland country information |
| Italy | 3 months beyond departurePlan for 6 months | Issued within 10 years | US Department of State: Italy country information |
| Netherlands | 3 months beyond departurePlan for 6 months | Issued within 10 years | US Department of State: Netherlands country information |
| Portugal | 3 months beyond departurePlan for 6 months | Issued within 10 years | US Department of State: Portugal country information |
| Spain | 3 months beyond departurePlan for 6 months | Issued within 10 years | US Department of State: Spain country information |
| Türkiye | 6 months from arrival | 1 blank page | US Department of State: Türkiye country information |
| United Kingdom | Valid for the duration of your stay | 1 blank page | US Department of State: United Kingdom country information |
Middle East
| Destination | Validity required | Also check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | 6 months from arrival | Validity only | US Department of State: UAE country information |
Oceania
| Destination | Validity required | Also check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Valid for the duration of your stayPlan for 6 months | Validity only | US Department of State: Australia country information |
| New Zealand | 6 months beyond departure | Validity only | US Department of State: New Zealand country information |
Entry rules change without much warning, and this table records when each was checked rather than claiming to be permanently current. Before you travel, confirm against the destination’s own authority and your airline.
Four ways a passport with a good expiry date still fails
It was issued more than ten years ago
Several countries once added leftover months from an old passport onto a new one, producing books valid for ten years and nine months. The Schengen area caps the issue date at ten years before travel, so those extra months are the reason the passport is refused rather than a bonus. Check the issue date, not only the expiry date.
It has no blank pages left
India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and South Africa all require blank pages, and pages cannot be added to a biometric passport the way they once could. A well-travelled passport can fail on space alone, and the fix is the same as an expired one: a new book.
It is damaged
A passport through the wash, with a lifted laminate, a loose data page, or water-damaged pages is treated as invalid by border officers even mid-validity. Damage is a judgement call made by the officer in front of you, which is a bad thing to discover at an airport.
The name on it no longer matches
A passport in a former name is still valid, but it has to match the name on the ticket and on any visa or travel authorisation tied to it. Authorisations such as an ESTA, an ETA, or an eVisa are usually linked to a specific passport number and do not follow you to a new book.
If the answer is that you need a new passport
The next question is whether a renewal fits before your departure date, and that depends on which passport you hold far more than on where you are going. The published figures range from about a week to six weeks or more, and almost none of them include the time an application spends in the post.
Compare every country
Official passport figures for sixteen countries, grouped into honest bands, with what each figure measures.
United States passports
Routine and expedited timing, plus the reader-reported pace beside the State Department figure.
United Kingdom passports
Standard online service timing from HM Passport Office, with the routes that run longer.
Canadian passports
The ten and twenty business-day service standards, and which channel you are actually in.
Australian passports
Routine service from the Australian Passport Office, with the paid priority route for urgent travel.
Indian passports
Issuance plus police verification, which is the part that decides how long the whole thing takes.
Visiting the US, UK, Canada or Australia?
The readiness checklist for inbound visitor trips, covering transit rules and authorisations tied to an old passport number.
One planning point worth knowing before you send the book away: renewing means surrendering your current passport in most countries, so a trip booked during the renewal window can become impossible even though the old passport was still valid. Check whether your country offers a service that lets you keep the old book, and book around the gap.
Passport validity, question by question
What is the six-month passport rule?
A large group of countries will not admit a visitor whose passport expires within six months of arrival. It is a rule set by each destination rather than a single global law, which is why it applies to Thailand, Singapore, India, and the United Arab Emirates but not to the United Kingdom, Ireland, or Canada. Where it applies, airlines enforce it at check-in because they carry the cost of flying a refused passenger home.
Can I travel if my passport expires in three months?
It depends entirely on where you are going and when you come back. Three months of validity is enough for the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada on a short visit, and enough for the Schengen area only if those three months extend past the day you leave the area. It is not enough for any destination applying a six-month rule. Enter your dates in the checker on this page to see which case you are in.
Is passport validity measured from when I arrive or when I leave?
Both models exist, and mixing them up is the most common planning error. Six-month rules are usually measured from the date of arrival, so a long trip does not change the requirement. The Schengen three-month rule and New Zealand's rule are measured from your intended departure, so a longer stay pushes the required expiry date further out.
Does the six-month rule apply to the Schengen area?
No. Schengen countries ask for a passport valid at least three months beyond your intended departure from the area, and issued within the previous ten years. Both halves matter: a passport issued more than ten years ago is refused even when the expiry date is comfortably in the future.
Why would a passport with a valid expiry date still be refused?
Three reasons account for most refusals. The passport was issued more than ten years before travel, which the Schengen rule bars regardless of expiry. The passport has no blank pages left, and pages cannot be added to modern books. Or the passport is damaged, water-marked, or has a detached data page, which border officers treat as invalid.
My passport was renewed early and has extra months on it. Does that count?
The extra months count towards the expiry date, so they satisfy any rule expressed as months of remaining validity. They do not help with the Schengen ten-year issue rule, which looks at when the book was issued rather than when it runs out. A passport issued eleven years ago with two years left fails that rule.
Do children's passports follow the same validity rules?
The destination's validity rule applies to every traveller regardless of age. What differs is the passport itself: children's passports are issued for shorter terms in most countries, typically five years rather than ten, so they run out sooner and are the passport most likely to be caught short before a family trip.
Does the airline or the destination decide?
The destination sets the rule and the airline enforces it. Carriers are fined and made to fly refused passengers home, so check-in staff apply the rule conservatively and sometimes apply a six-month habit to destinations that do not require it. That is why a thin margin against a stated minimum is still worth avoiding.
How long does it take to renew a passport if mine is short?
It varies enormously by country, from about a week in China and Vietnam to four to six weeks routine in the United States. The checker on this page shows the published figure for the passport you hold once it finds a problem, and QueueCheck's passport processing times comparison covers sixteen countries with what each official figure actually measures.
Does a passing result mean I can definitely enter?
No. Validity is one requirement among several. The same trip may need a visa, an electronic travel authorisation, proof of onward travel, or blank pages. This page answers the validity question only, and links to the official source behind each rule so you can confirm the rest.
QueueCheck is independent and is not a government service. This page explains how validity rules work and applies published requirements to dates you enter; it is general information rather than advice about your individual case, and the destination and your airline decide whether you travel. Nothing you type here is sent to a server.
Sources: US Department of State country information pages, US Customs and Border Protection on passport validity, and ICAO Annex 9 on travel document facilitation. Per-destination sources are linked in the table above.