hi last year we were in a similar situation our 17year old twins only had 4months left on their passports.i contacted passport office and the embassy and they said as long as they had 3 months left there would be no problem.everything was fine.sue

That's worth knowing - I always thought it was 6 months

its down to what the airline or tour operator specifies not what the destination country say... you can have all the written confirmation from on high but if the TO or airline state 6 months and the check in want to be bloody minded [and they can] you wont get on the aircraft to go

wizard

BTW why has this not been referred to the PASSPORT THREAD where all the necessary info is already in place

wiz

Won't stand a chance of getting a new one, I sent my daughters off for replacement over 2 weeks ago and on ringing them this morning (for the hundreth time) they told me expect it to be at LEAST another 2 weeks. I travel a week tomorrow

its down to what the airline or tour operator specifies not what the destination country say...

That is not strictly true. Individual countries have their own entry requirements in relation to passport validity, just as individual airlines and tour operators may also have their own booking conditions in relation to passport validity.

It may not be sufficient to comply just with the country's official entry requirements, if the airline or tour operator stipulates a greater period of passport validity. And nor may it be sufficient to comply with just the airline or tour operator's passport requirements, if the country concerned stipulates a longer period of validity. You need to check all entry requirements and booking conditions to ensure that your passport has at least the minimum validity period suggested by all concerned.

In the case of Turkey, advice from the Foreign Office and the Turkish Embassy is that passports should be valid for at least 6 months on entry into Turkey, and for at least 3 months on exit from Turkey. How strictly that may be enforced is another matter, which I have no personal knowledge of.

As Wizard indicates, we also have a separate PASSPORT ADVICE and Q&As topic where you will find general advice and info about passport applications, renewals and other services provided by the UK's Identity & Passport Service, as opposed to the more specific discussion found in this topic about entry requirements for Turkey.

David

Six months on entry and three months on exit ,and they are really strict about this ,would never take the chance if your passport is not valid for these times.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/europe/turkey

Bluepeterno1

if you want a new passport in a hurry go through your post office fill in the form, take it with photo to your post office they will check it for you, and send it off, it will cost an extra £7 all about £75 i did mine on a monday afternoon and got my new passport back on the following Friday excellent service well worth the extra cash

That is what I did and like I said, 3 weeks and counting.... 2 weeks is not a guaranteed service and they are extremely busy with the backlog after the strike and to top it off they are incredibly unhelpful if you have the misfortune of having to ring them.

wow, thanks for all your replies,really helpful. worried about getting the passport back in time for 18 August due to the backlog from the strike. Anyone have any idea how long this could be in the present circumstances so to decide whether to risk sending his passport for renewal I presume I do have to send his current passport)?

I feel it is a choice between risking entry/airline regulation versus the passport office; would we get the passport back in time?

Any thoughts. I know we will have to decide quickly what to do.

Thanks again.

I think it is more the entyry rules for turkey rather than the airlines .Read the link i posted .It would be terrible if you got to the passport control in turkey and they would not let him through .I would try for a passport renewal rather than chancing it .

Bluepeterno1

As I said before if it was me I would find out about getting it done on a one day service or you could find yourself without a passport at all

if i was you i would ring the turkish embassy in london and your travel company, as earlier stated ive travelled with 4 mths on our passports at least 3 different times and had no problems at all, if you speak to the people concerned and they clear it then at least you will know exactly where you stand , ring embassy first if they say its ok, they you can relay this to either your flight company or TO and see what they say, at least this way you will know for sure, then if its not possible you can make decision re passports as getting a 1 day service costs a lot and passports have gone up enough as it is !!

Thank you for your wonderful advice,due to the concern, we have decided to get our son's passport renewed at our local passport office using the one day service (expensive, yes £144!). I got his photos countersigned today and the appt. is for the 7th august, before he travels to Turkey on the 18th. So best to have peace of mind I feel, especially as a parent, and as we won't be travelling with him and he will not be accompanied by anyone over 18.

Wouldn't you think that the expiry date on a person's passport should be just that! - (Here I am on my soap box now) I bet it has caught a lot of unsuspecting people out.

Thanks again for your advice. I thought you would like to know the outcome of our dilema.

I think it is the best thing - I know it is expensive but it would have been worse if his passpor hadn't got back in time or if he had been sent home form Bodrum airport I would have done the same.

I'm sure it has caught loads of people out, It's just unfortunate that for you it happened at the time of the passport strike.

Still at least he will have a good holiday now with no worries.

Definitely the best thing to do girlie ,i have searched the net and every site i have visited states the same ,six months on entry and three months on exit ,at least you will have the peace of mind now knowing that he will be allowed in alright ,he will be more relaxed himself now ,hope he has a good holiday and brings you back a nice pressie after all your concern and worry.

Bluepeterno1

hi, i was hoping to take my grandaughter away for her 5th birthday in june this year to turkey, but her passport expires in october, will it be ok to travel with 4mths left or do we need 6 mnths this seems unfair considering a child passport is 50 and they only get 4 1/2 yrs use please could you let me know as i am looking to book asap

Hi Margaret

Ive just had to renew our grandkids passports there had 4 month left on it and going away in June also but asked at passport office and Turkey wont accept them into the country if it has not got 6 month left on it.

You will have to get her photograph taken again because there features have changed so much x

There is a post on IcmelerOnline this week, a child was refused travel from the UK as he only had 12 weeks left on his passport, they were warning everyone on the forum to check the passport dates, interestingly a few members thought they were OK but weren't as their passports would have less than 6 months on them. See here

Don't forget when renewing a passport they give you any unused months on your new one (Upto a maximum of 9 months) so renewing the passport you will recieve one back for 5 years 4 Months.

Dave

I didnt understand why you needed 6 months left but I guess its something to do with if something goes wrong and you take ill, touch wood, and its wouldnt be possible for you to fly until you got better which if turned out to be a long time your passport ran out and hadnt loads of carry on then.

Still passports should be free