Passport expiry

[pscc]

Can anyone help- my passport expires on 3rd April 2009 and we want to go away for 2 weeks in March- somone told me you cant use your passport from 6 weeks before it expires??? Is this true??????
I find this very hard to believe- surely it is valid until the expiry date- hence EXPIRY date??????

depends what counrty you are going to, if you are just travelling to europe i think its fine, places like america/australia you have to have a certain amount of time on you r passport afaik

not sure, but why not renew it now?

some countries require that your passport still be valid six months after you get back

just renew it now, the time you "lose" is taken account of by the passport office ie. added on to your new one

do you think if I renew now (monday) it wil arrive in time??? Going to turkey

es, its normally a 3w tyurn around, or 2 if you go through the post office.

You can start the renewal process online today and they'll post you the form to sign. It won't take long this time of year.

wow- thanks!
Thanks simplysally will go online now!
how technology has advanced- scary!
Maybe at 30 I am just getting old (and scared of what our kids will be teaching us with regards to technology).
Thanks again to all for all your advice- have a great day!!
xx

This time of year you will probably get in back return of post - 3-4 days?

In some countries you need to have 6 months still valid on your passport in order to travel there.

Check this out with the embassy for the country you are planning to visit.

They say allow 3 weeks, but as everyone else says this time of year, can be back within a week. And if you use post office, they will check everything is correct so less likely to have it returned saying something is incorrect. We has ours back in 4 days, and 7 for DD who had a brand new passport (so took longer)

Oh you can do it online? Anyone have a link pretty please!

hi ComeOVeneer,
Here it is;
www.ips.gov.uk/epa1r1a/index.aspx?c=1

I just did mine and it is soooo easy, just got to wait for application to come through, sign it, include pics and payment and then the new passport should arrive!
Good luck

Thanks pscc, I have been putting it off because I can't be bothered to traipse all the way into town, pay for parking etc just to go to the post office, our little local one closed down last year .

agree with AF ref the 6 month rule. A lot of countries require this and I've known of people that have been refused to fly because they didn't have 6 months left (although I agree it is a bit daft and makes a bit of a mockery of having an expiry date)

You do get any leftover period added onto your new passport though - I renewed my passport extra early last time and they put on 9 months onto my current one. I think 9 months is the maximum they'll add.

I'd imagine the 6mo or more left on the passport rule is in case you get delayed abroad for any reason and it saves hassle getting it renewed abroad.

yes sally, I think you are right

9 months is maximum they will add on