# Why are passports no good within six months of expiration? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2021, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434 "2021-01-13T11:29:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/61 "2021-01-16T14:16:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Speaking of all this, I need to renew my passport. How long is it taking to process one? Depends on which country issued it. Care to share? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/62 "2021-01-16T16:03:11Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > One of the worst travel decisions I have made was to travel to the US via Vancouver. I had had good experiences exiting the US via Vancouver, so I figured that entering would be no problem. > > The issue started when I got to the airport to leave. I went to check-in, and the attendant told me I needed a Canadian visa. I was confused, because I was transiting via Canada, and not staying. > > With a rapid panic I shot off to a Travel Agent who was able to do the needful (at 4 times the cost of doing it myself). This was completed in time and I made the flight to Vancouver. > > Basically, only a few select airlines (ones I was not flying) have the freedom to transit passengers. So I had to enter Canada on arrival, go through customs and immigration, and then head directly to the US entry point in the same airport, and go through US Immigration and customs. > > One of my colleagues actually missed his flights, and another had to pay a fee and reschedule via a US airport. > > We were not well impressed. Part of the problem was our corporate travel agent who did not warn us about this requirement. But the change in expectation (transiting a country without a visa vs entering that country with a visa) was really confusing. Canada and the USA are pretty large with a great deal of internal travel; there is not a lot of transit traffic. So unlike big European airports they don’t have transit areas outside of customs. Canada compounds it by having US customs onsite in several major airports. this simplifies US travel since pre-cleared planes can now go to any gate in any US airport instead of having to use customs in the USA. The oddest I recall is when we stopped in Honolulu on the way from Vancouver to Sydney AUS and had to get off while they refueled the plane, then go through US customs, then airport security again, only to sit in a deserted closed airport at 2AM and wait half an hour to re-board. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/63 "2021-01-16T19:10:18Z")
My brother just had to do this (he lives in Arizona) and he said the “expedited” passport now takes 4-6 weeks (so he was told by the government). ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/64 "2021-01-16T21:03:44Z")
A bit OT, but … If you manage to lose your passport, having available a picture of it (on your phone or PC) will usefully mitigate the problem you have created. (Which is not to say that you’ll be happy about what you’ve done to yourself.) ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/65 "2021-01-16T21:21:31Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > The oddest I recall is when we stopped in Honolulu on the way from Vancouver to Sydney AUS and had to get off while they refueled the plane, then go through US customs, then airport security again, only to sit in a deserted closed airport at 2AM and wait half an hour to re-board. There’s a story (possibly apocryphal) about a similar problem experienced by a British man traveling from Auckland NZ to London. The flight included a short-ish connection in Sydney, but various “equipment problems” delayed the onward flight several times, to the point where an Australian regulation had to be invoked that all passengers now must pass through customs and immigration. Many of the passengers were visibly upset, but our hero retained his stiff upper lip - until the time when the immigration officer came to the question: “Criminal record - do you have any criminal record?” to which he replied “No - I am sorry, but I wasn’t aware one was still necessary to visit your country.” Apparently this did little to expedite his eventual departure. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/66 "2021-03-03T01:28:11Z")
How? I mean for some situations you could just send in a photo of your passport, but not if you need it for ID in person, like when travelling or even proving your age if you don’t drive. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/67 "2021-03-03T01:57:30Z")
I think it might be a reference to getting a replacement - I’ve read that having a photo or photocopy with the various numbers expedites getting a replacement at a consulate away from home. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/68 "2021-03-03T02:03:28Z")
Aha! Yes, that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/69 "2021-03-04T22:22:15Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Your avatar is Hunter S. Thompson, isn’t it? Sorry for the hijack, but… On my screen, those pictures are often too tiny to see clearly. Is there a way to see them bigger or better? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/70 "2021-03-05T00:36:31Z")
All of the SDMB thumbnails are 45x45 pixels so quite small. Best you can do is ask the person with a pic you like if they have a larger image it came from. In my case I forgot where I got it but here is a larger version: > **[Hunter S. Thompson Attempts to Justify Fear & Loathing Expenses in a...](https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2015/03/hunter-s-thompson-attempts-to-justify-fear-loathing-expenses-in-a-letter-to-his-editor)** > > That's a lot of grapefruit scum. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/71 "2021-03-05T02:18:16Z")
Here’s a larger version. [![](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/07/02/PLOU/13007a8f-51aa-49f8-be84-d0f78a3321c6-WEB_Digitally_Remastered_Hunter_Thompson_by_Allen_Arpadi.jpg?crop=572,763,x0,y36&quality=50&width=640) ](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/07/02/PLOU/13007a8f-51aa-49f8-be84-d0f78a3321c6-WEB_Digitally_Remastered_Hunter_Thompson_by_Allen_Arpadi.jpg?crop=572,763,x0,y36&quality=50&width=640) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/72 "2021-03-09T14:24:39Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Sorry for the hijack, but… > On my screen, those pictures are often too tiny to see clearly. Is there a way to see them bigger or better? Have you tried clicking on the avatar to pop-up the user’s details? That has a much larger version of the same image. See [https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole). Although It looks like @Whack-a-Mole chose a pretty blurry original. If you are going to have a custom avatar, best to resize it to about 300x300 before uploading it. That gives Discourse or the browser something with enough detail to start with. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434/73 "2021-03-09T16:36:03Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > How? I mean for some situations you could just send in a photo of your passport, but not if you need it for ID in person, like when travelling or even proving your age if you don’t drive. I lost my passport travelling from Switzerland to the US, and discovered that it was missing in the Frankfurt airport. A fellow from TSA stationed in that airport was called over, he pulled up and image of my passport on his phone, verified the information (I still had my drivers license) and walked me through security to my gate. I did have a long talk with border control back in Boston but they let me in and I got my new passport a few weeks later. Having a color copy of my passport would have helped speed the situation with the TSA in Frankfurt, but it wasn’t critical to have. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-passports-no-good-within-six-months-of-expiration/930434.md?page=3)