MSE News: Passport backlog: What are your rights?

growler834

totallybored wrote: »

No need for 6 months, it only needs to be valid for the duration of your stay. A lot of people believe this 6 month thing but it's not true for quite a number of countries https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirements

Thanks for that - we assumed the 6 month rule applied for the US as it does for some other countries we travel to. That saves us a headache until we get home in May at least!!!!

Caddyman

totallybored wrote: »

No need for 6 months, it only needs to be valid for the duration of your stay. A lot of people believe this 6 month thing but it's not true for quite a number of countries https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirements

Without deliberately trying to be argumentative or have yet another slanging match, a lot of people have good reason to believe 'this 6 month thing' because there are conversely, quite a number of countries it does apply to. For those of us like myself who are lucky or unlucky enough to be'world weary' travellers, dependent on your point of view! keeping your passport in order is important, but we've had that conversation already.

growler834

Having thought some more I think we will still renew our passports this September. If we do it next May it's coming up to the 'busy' time of year again & we may need them for business next summer. September to December is the longest period we have where we won't need them so I'm hoping they have sorted the backlog out by then.

Wammer

growler834 wrote: »

Thanks for that - we assumed the 6 month rule applied for the US as it does for some other countries we travel to. That saves us a headache until we get home in May at least!!!!

totallybored is correct that your passport only needs to be valid for the duration of your visit to the US. However if you are thinking of applying next May you may then hit the start of the busy period for the passport office next year although you will have a few month before your next trip.

Edit - we posted at the same time!

Wammer

You will have up to 9 month unexpired allowance added to your new passport so won't miss out.

totallybored

Caddyman wrote: »

Without deliberately trying to be argumentative or have yet another slanging match, a lot of people have good reason to believe 'this 6 month thing' because there are conversely, quite a number of countries it does apply to. For those of us like myself who are lucky or unlucky enough to be'world weary' travellers, dependent on your point of view! keeping your passport in order is important, but we've had that conversation already.

A lot of people believe it because travel agents have told them that for some reason. The most popular travel destinations for UK tourists are to the EU and they don't need 6 months left on their passport for a fortnight to Spain. Simon Calder was making this point on TV the other day, lots of people are panicking and thinking they need 6 months when they're only going to Europe and it's not necessary.

Obviously visa and entry requirements vary from country to country and you should always check but there seems to be a misconception with a lot of people that you must have this 6 months. Off the top of my head Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and Iceland need 6 months that are common holiday destinations.

themull1

Sorry to be thick, but why do countries like six months left on a passport?

Caddyman

themull1 wrote: »

Sorry to be thick, but why do countries like six months left on a passport?

A very valid question. There are a raft of possible answers. Some suggest it is all to do with should you fall ill and have an extended stay in hospital. If you are arrested/imprisoned for a period of time whilst in one of those countries. If you request to stay longer than you originally intended then there might be the issue of a visa extension which might have a bearing on how long your passport is valid for.

fabforty

peachyprice wrote: »

This makes no sense. I sent mine off on 16th April, using the ready-filled forms they sent me a few months before, I got it back on 9th May, that's with Easter and a bank holiday in between. How on earth can they do it for some but not others?

Mine went to Durham, where are yours?

Mine is at Durham aswell. I know it makes no sense and that is what is worrying me. If there was a problem with the form or the photos, I would/should have been told by now. For all I know, my application has been lost or misfiled and nobody has bothered to tell me.

Jacqu79

We used the Post Office check and send service and handed them into the PO on May 7th. We received a text on the 12th to say they'd been received and then we received them both on the 24th May.

It seems that we were very lucky, but I can't understand how they work through the renewals. I've read on another forum of people sending them in quite a bit before we sent ours and still not having them back!

Is it possible that ours were prioritised as we used the check and send service?

Good luck to everyone still waiting.