6-Month Passport Rule: Passport Validity Rules by Country 2026

Cover image: Entry and exit stamps on the visa pages of a passport (file photo) — photo by Jon Rawlinson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The six-month passport rule is common, not universal. Of the 27 destinations in our table, built mainly from UK government travel advice, 13 require a passport valid for at least six months after the day you arrive, including Thailand, the UAE, China, India and Brazil. Turkey asks for 150 days. The Schengen area wants three months beyond the day you leave, plus a passport issued less than 10 years before you enter. Japan, Canada, Australia and Mexico only need the passport to last for your stay.

The United States waives its own six-month rule for nationalities on a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) list dated 18 December 2025: 127 entries by our count. Airlines check documents before you board, and the Government of Canada warns that a carrier's rules "may be more stringent than the country's entry rules".

Last checked: 19 October 2026 against UK FCDO, Government of Canada, EU and US CBP pages.

Which countries need six months on your passport, and which accept less?

Official minimums run from six months down to the length of the visit, and the clock starts either on the day you arrive or on the day you leave.

Passport validity by destination, from UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) entry-requirements pages written for British passport holders; Canadian advice matches for Thailand, Türkiye, the UAE, Japan and Mexico. Rules can differ by nationality: check the destination's official page or your own government's advice for your passport.

Dominican Republic: the FCDO says British passport holders visiting for tourism need a passport valid only for the duration of the visit "up until 31 December 2026", and that "rules may change after this date".

Travel sites often list Turkey as a six-month country, but the FCDO and Canada both say 150 days from entry; only residents need six months. Our Turkey entry requirements guide has the visa rules.

How do the Schengen 3-month rule and the 10-year rule work?

The EU's Your Europe portal says a non-EU visitor's passport "should be valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU and it must have been issued within the last 10 years". Both tests apply when you enter any of the area's 29 countries (Canada's count).

The issue date is what catches people out. The FCDO warns that a passport renewed before 1 October 2018 may carry an issue date more than 10 years old, "making it invalid for entry to the Schengen area", even though it has not yet expired.

It is not a "3+3" or six-month rule. A two-week trip needs about three and a half months of validity on arrival.

Cyprus, where EU visa rules do not apply, sets the same two tests plus one blank page. Our Schengen visa guide covers the 90/180-day limit and the Entry/Exit System that replaces manual passport stamps.

Do you need six months on your passport for the United States?

It depends on your nationality. CBP's bulletin of 18 December 2025 says visitors need passports "valid for six months beyond the period of their intended stay", but citizens of the listed countries "need only have a passport valid for their intended period of stay".

The list includes the UK, Canada, Australia, India, Japan, Mexico, the UAE and all 27 EU member states. China, Vietnam, Kenya, Bangladesh and Ghana are absent, so those passports need six months beyond the stay.

The bulletin supersedes the 2022-2023 list and all earlier CBP carrier-liaison bulletins, so older lists are out of date. CBP points to the State Department's 9 FAM 403.9-3(b)(2)(f) for the current list; our US entry requirements guide covers ESTA and visas.

What do airlines check, and do transit, blank pages and damage count?

The airline checks your passport before any border officer does. Carriers screen documents with IATA's Timatic database, which IATA says checks more than 700 million passengers' travel documents a year and helps airlines "avoid immigration fines".

Transit has rules of its own. The FCDO says the UAE wants three months' validity even for passengers who stay airside, and warns that many countries require six months "even if you're just in transit". Check every stop on a layover route.

Blank pages are a separate test: two for China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Kenya and South Africa, and one for Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, Cyprus and Japan, according to the FCDO.

Condition matters too. The FCDO says Vietnam has denied British nationals entry and exit over passport damage, and Morocco has refused some damaged passports. Vietnam (FCDO) and the UAE (Canada) expect you to enter and leave on the same passport.

How do you count your passport's validity?

Find the starting point, then add the period. These examples are illustrations, not legal advice.

• Spain: arrive 20 December 2026, leave 3 January 2027. The passport must expire on or after 3 April 2027 and have been issued on or after 21 December 2016.
• Turkey: arrive 1 December 2026. Expiry on or after 30 April 2027 (150 days). A six-month reading would wrongly demand 1 June 2027.
• Thailand: arrive 15 December 2026. Expiry on or after 15 June 2027.
• United States: arrive 10 January 2027, leave 24 January 2027. A six-month-club passport must be valid through 24 January 2027; any other passport through 24 July 2027.

If a delay or an extension could push you past a limit, renew before you go.

Frequently asked questions

Do all countries require six months left on my passport?

No. Of our 27 destinations, 13 ask for six months from arrival and Turkey asks for 150 days. The Schengen area, Cyprus and New Zealand want three months after you leave, Morocco three months from arrival, and Hong Kong, the Maldives and South Africa a month or less. Five destinations only need the passport to cover your stay; for the US it depends on nationality.

How many months do I need on my passport for Spain, France, Italy or the rest of Europe?

At least three months beyond the day you plan to leave the Schengen area, according to the EU and the FCDO. The passport must also have been issued less than 10 years before the day you arrive, so check both the expiry date and the issue date before you book.

Can I travel to the US with less than six months on my passport?

Yes, if your nationality is on CBP's six-month-club list of 18 December 2025 (127 entries by our count, including the UK, Canada, Australia, India, Japan and every EU state). Your passport then only needs to cover your stay. Other nationalities, such as China and Vietnam, need six months beyond it.

Can an airline refuse to let me fly even if I meet the country's rule?

Yes. The Government of Canada warns that a carrier's passport-validity rules "may be more stringent than the country's entry rules". Airlines screen documents through IATA's Timatic database, which IATA says checks more than 700 million passengers' travel documents a year. Transit adds rules too: the UAE wants three months' validity even for airside passengers.

Sources

• GOV.UK (FCDO), Foreign travel advice by country
• GOV.UK (FCDO), Spain entry requirements
• Your Europe (EU), Travel documents for non-EU nationals
• US CBP, Six-Month Passport Validity Update (18 December 2025)
• Government of Canada, Türkiye travel advice
• Government of Canada, United Arab Emirates travel advice
• Government of Canada, Travelling in Europe
• IATA, Timatic