While new travel rules and regulations are always being introduced, there may be some longstanding ones you weren’t even aware of that are just as important.
Maybe you’ve heard of the 6-month passport rule, requiring your passport be valid at least six months beyond your arrival date. However, you’ll additionally want to familiarize yourself with the three-month passport rule that could make or break your trip.
3-month passport rule
Similar to the six-month passport rule, some countries only require your passport to be valid three-months beyond the last date of your trip or upon arrival.
Reason for validity rules
The six-month and three-month passport rules exist to ensure travelers do not overstay in a foreign country. If one’s passport was to expire while in a foreign country, the traveler would have to wait for an emergency document before being able to return home. The validity rules prevent such a situation.
Countries that use the 3-month passport rule
These countries allow entry as long as your passport is valid for at least three months after your departure from any of them. Ones marked by an asterisk require three-months validity from your arrival date in the country.
- Albania
- Andorra
- Austria
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize*
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Eswatini*
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan*
- Latvia
- Lebanon*
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Morocco*
- Nauru*
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Saint Lucia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria*
- Togo
- Uzbekistan*
- Vatican City
Can I renew my passport before it expires?
Yes. Travelers planning to visit a country with the six- or three-month passport validity rule should renew their passport before their departure if it does not have sufficient validity remaining.
How do I know the validity rules of the country I’m traveling to?
The U.S. Department of State conveniently has an online search tool that lets you enter your destination country to discover its travel alerts and advisories (if any), passport validity, the amount of blank passport pages needed, currency restrictions and so on.