I have a US passport which will expire in October (27th) of this year.

I've been in Thailand on various visa for 2 and a half years and speak Thai fairly well.

Currently I'm in Thailand, and have a 60 day tourist visa.

I also have a purchased flight back to the US on May 28th.

All is well if I stay here for another month and fly back to the US. But I want to take a one week trip to the Philippines and back. That would put me back to Thailand with about 5 and a half months validity.

I'm flying with Cebu Pacific (if I fly).

I don't have time to get a new passport, I don't want to get an emergency one either. I plan on going to the airport tomorrow to talk to Cebu, but, I'm just looking for advice.

It seems like the big issue is that Cebu might not even let me board in the Philippines to come back to Thailand? What if I have proof of a flight out of Thailand back to America 18 days after I would enter Thailand. What if I go to get a re-entry permit now in Thailand, would that change anything? I would already have a visa with a re-entry permit, but would still be trying to re-enter Thailand on less than 6 months.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thailand does not require six month validity by IATA website (which airlines use for this) but below is your problem - Philippines requires six months.

/ 26APR13 / 1237 UTC

National USA (US) /Embarkation Thailand (TH)
Destination Philippines (PH)


Philippines (PH)



Passport required.
- Passports and/or passport replacing documents must be valid
for at least 6 months from date of arrival.

It takes 2 weeks or less to get a new passport from the embassy in Bangkok. If you could squeeze that in to plans it would be better and cheaper than getting passport in the US.

Info here: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/passports.html

If you decide get passport be sure you make an appointment because they are mandatory and you will not get through the front door without one.

I would advise you to not take the trip to the Philippines due to your Passport validity! You are taking a chance & its not worth it.

Same thing happened a guy in a tour group i was in he was returning from Viet nam to cambodia to travel thru to bangkok to catch a return flight back to his home. He only had a week to travel and was way south in Vietnam trying to get across border with just a few days under the 6months left in his passport and a return ticket from Bangkok on him in a week. He wasnt allowed in cambodia and had to travel back to Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon) airport just to buy a flight to fly over Cambodia just to make it back intime for his other return ticket home..

Two years ago, when I had less than 2 months till my passport expired, went onine, made appt with Consulate here in CM. Went 3 days later with forms in hand. They told me "about 3-4 weeks". And I got the one with the additional pages. 11 days later I get email & phone call to tell me to come pick it up. Got it, along with a letter from them to CM Immigration to replace all visa stamps and info. Took it too them and had that done the same day.

Go for a new one.

My opinion - get a new one now. Save yourself time, hassle & money

don't go to Philippines. They wont let with less than 6 months.

Edited April 27, 201313 yr by RichardO

I did almost the same exact thing a few months ago, but traveling from Thailand to India and back to Thailand. When I came back to Thailand I only had 5 months validity on my US passport but had no problems. This was for India though, not Indonesia. I think it all depends on who's checking your passport and how strict they want to be. You could probably get away with it but best not to risk it.

I did almost the same exact thing a few months ago, but traveling from Thailand to India and back to Thailand. When I came back to Thailand I only had 5 months validity on my US passport but had no problems. This was for India though, not Indonesia. I think it all depends on who's checking your passport and how strict they want to be. You could probably get away with it but best not to risk it.

I just briefly checked on the internet and it seems that 6 months or more validity is required to enter India. I entered india with about 5 months validity, and then came back to Thailand with 4.5 months validity, had no problems. I'm not recommending you do the same, just sharing my experience.

Where did you check that? Below is what I got a minute ago from IATA information on

http://www.staralliance.com/en/services/visa-and-health/

The post is about travel to the Philippines and Thailand - not Indonesia or India. The Philippines requires six month validity as I posted above. India only requires passport be valid on entry.

National USA (US) /Embarkation Thailand (TH)
Destination India (IN)


India (IN)



Passport required.
- Passport and/or passport replacing documents must be valid
on arrival.