Travel Tip: What You Should Know About Traveling With a Passport

Image Credit: Alessandra Taryn

Do you have a passport?

Only 37 percent of Americans own one.

Still, 72 million Americans traveled abroad last year.

If you’re one of them, then you used your passport.

But when was the last time you actually checked it?

Passports have a ten-year validity, but different countries interpret the word validity differently.

When does your passport expire?

Some countries, such as Mexico, only require that your passport be valid at the time you enter the country.

Other countries, like New Zealand, require that your passport remains valid at least three months beyond your departure date.

To be safe, I believe in the six-month rule.

Any time your passport has a validity of six months or less, get a new passport or risk being denied entry into many countries.

Some countries, such as South Africa, seem less concerned with validity dates than they are with something else.

If you don’t have at least two completely blank pages in your passport—that means two free pages with no stamps—they won’t let you enter the country.

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