Would you renew his passport, just to be sure?

[CurlsandCurves]

My son is hoping to go to Canada in July/August, he’s visiting a friend and not booked any flights yet.

His passport expires 13th Feb 2023, so depending on when he goes he’ll have between 5-6 months left on it. Should we get it renewed just so we know for sure he’ll have no problems with immigration?

Is that from date of issue, or the date is states on the passport? I would probably play it safe and renew- in case you run into any issue or he chooses to go later.

Yes, I think that I would. I've just renewed mine in similar circumstances (it was getting a bit tight) I applied on the 27th April and received my new passport yesterday. None of the 10 week wait horror stories, fortunately.

Problem is surely that you have to get it back before he flies? Minimum wait is around 10 weeks at the moment

I thought the six months was for the EU?

No, the EU is three months.

Canada is six months, from date of entry, so as long as he has that he should be fine. I'm not sure I'd want to risk sending off a passport for renewal at the moment unless I absolutely needed to. He should make sure that his entry date to Canada is outside the final six months of validity left on his passport.

Check the entry requirements for Canada and for the airline. A brief look online just says valid for length of stay but h'll want to confirm that.

Issue date is December 2017. Based on that I ought to renew I think?

from the Foreign office travel advice on Canada.

For Canada the passport should be valid for the duration of his stay. No additional period of validity beyond this is required.

Yes @CurlsandCurves

This is from the Canada eTA (electronic travel authority) website:
What if my passport is about to expire before my trip to the Canada?
"While Canada does not enforce a six-month rule of passport validity, we strongly recommend that your passport is valid for at least six months prior to your entry into Canada.
Having a passport that is valid for six months or less when entering Canada could create potential problems."

I would, why risk it.

I guess the reason to risk it would be the risk of it not coming back in time for his travel.

Although 10 weeks is being quoted, our experiences on the traditional MN 'nail biting passport wait' thread suggest that simple renewals are happening much faster, in around 3 weeks. There should be plenty of time and even 10 weeks is sooner than the very end of July. But that might be the only thing to think about.

With all the horror stories about how long it's taking to get passports renewed I wouldn't risk it, especially as it is valid for the duration of his stay.

I would renew. We needed all 3 this year as had expired during covid. First took 4 weeks one a couple of days later and last one was 4w6d. We did it online which is quicker but was worried from all the horror stories. Plus you can track and keep up to date. I posted old passports back first class recorded the day we applied so the quicker that’s done the better too

Zafferena

where is this listed?. for British citizens an additional period of validity beyond travel date is not required. I ask only as I cannot see any such reference on the Canadian government website, misinformation on such sites is rife. As with ESTAs there are many unofficial sites out there who will take your money to do something that can be easily applied for on the official Canadian government website.

i have now found the info you quoted and it is indeed written on a company site not at all affiliated with the Canadian government. These people are basically out there to take more money than necessary from travellers.

The issùe date is not relevant in this case.. that issue relates to passports which as a result of the unexpired time being added on, subsequently had validity periods longer than 10 years which is not the case here.