no international flights with less than 6 months on passport?

[Foreverford]

Is it true you can not take ANY international flight if you do not have more than 6 months remaining on your passport? I bought an Air Asia flight and now they say I can't fly as passport expires in 4 1/2 months? I'm sure they won't give me back my money either as buyer beware?

[KhunBENQ]

Where do you want to fly?

Conditions vary from country to country.

ANY international flight

Did AA say so?

Edited March 6, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[Foreverford]

Yes this was AA saying it and I was flying to Hanoi? any and all help would be appreciated. Thank you for replying

[CNXBKKMAN]

It depends on what passport you hold and your destination country. An american passport holder needs 6 months validity, one clean empty page and a visa for Vietnam. A British passport holder going to the USA just needs the passport to be valid during the visit. So passport is expiring in 7 days but visiting New York for 3 days and leaving before expiry everything would be fine.

Needing 6 months validity is common for a lot of countries but also a lot of countries don't have that requirement. Whenever your PP gets in the last 6 months its time to get a new one if you want an easy life. Its always worth checking the entry requirements of your destination if you want stress free travel.

[KhunBENQ]

Hmm...

Just checked the TIMATIC infos (the source that airlines refer to for visa/entry conditions).

US citizen (are you?) from Thailand to Vietnam:

Passport required.
- Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be
valid for a minimum of 30 days beyond the period of intended
stay.
- When holding a visa for entry into Viet Nam, passports must
be valid at least 1 month after the expiry date of the visa.

So if you are a US citizen then the info from AirAsia is false.

Infos can be queried here:

https://www.klm.com/travel/us_en/prepare_for_travel/travel_planning/travel_clinic/visaform.htm

(a STAR alliance link is broken)

Edited March 6, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[theoldgit]

It may be a condition of carriage imposed by Air Asia, even if it satisfies the requirements of the destination country:

My passport validity is less than 6 months. Can I book a flight using my passport?

You are not required to enter your passport details during booking, you only need to enter these details when you perform web check-in.

However, if your passport is expiring in less than 6 months, please ensure that you are able to renew your passport anytime before you fly.

[Sheryl]

Air Asia once refused me boarding on a flight to Cambodia for the same reason. But this is, in fact, a Cambodian requirement.

Do you have a Vietnamese visa or were you planning to get a 15 day visa exempt stay? The latter does require passport validity of at least 6 months for UK citizens https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements

US citizens AFAIK can't get visa exemption and must have 6 months passport validity to get a visa

In short, it depends on your nationality and visa status. If you have already got a visa for Viet Nam and your period of travel falls within the validity of that visa then you can argue your case with AA and probably win as all they care about is that you not be refused entry (may need to speak to a supervisor though). But if you are going in visa exempt it may indeed be a requirement.

Google Viet Nam entry requirements + your nationality

[Foreverford]

Hmm...

Just checked the TIMATIC infos (the source that airlines refer to for visa/entry conditions).

US citizen (are you?) from Thailand to Vietnam:

Passport required.

- Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be

valid for a minimum of 30 days beyond the period of intended

stay.

- When holding a visa for entry into Viet Nam, passports must

be valid at least 1 month after the expiry date of the visa.

So if you are a US citizen then the info from AirAsia is false.

Infos can be queried here:

Thank you as I am a US citizen and I got that same info from the link you sent me

Passport required.

- Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be

valid for a minimum of 30 days beyond the period of intended

stay.

- When holding a visa for entry into Viet Nam, passports must

be valid at least 1 month after the expiry date of the visa.

https://www.klm.com/travel/us_en/prepare_for_travel/travel_planning/travel_clinic/visaform.htm

(a STAR alliance link is broken)

Edited March 6, 2016 by Foreverford

[Foreverford]

Air Asia once refused me boarding on a flight to Cambodia for the same reason. But this is, in fact, a Cambodian requirement.

Do you have a Vietnamese visa or were you planning to get a 15 day visa exempt stay? The latter does require passport validity of at least 6 months for UK citizens https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements

US citizens AFAIK can't get visa exemption and must have 6 months passport validity to get a visa

In short, it depends on your nationality and visa status. If you have already got a visa for Viet Nam and your period of travel falls within the validity of that visa then you can argue your case with AA and probably win as all they care about is that you not be refused entry (may need to speak to a supervisor though). But if you are going in visa exempt it may indeed be a requirement.

Google Viet Nam entry requirements + your nationality

Thanks Sheryl as I am a US citizen and I am in the process of getting a letter from a travel agent ( www.vietnamvisacorp.com they are extremely helpful and very punctual in their responses to any issues, I highly recommend them and they are in agreement that it is no problem to get a visa with my current passport so it does appear to be an AiraAsia issue) for a one month "visa upon arrival" as it is a common and simple way to enter the country for a short stay of less than one month. Cost is $19 US and $25 US stamp fee upon arrival.

As you can see on my previous email and the info from my agents a visa can be issued and entry allowed if passport for US citizen has less than 6 months of validity.

Thanks so much for your help

[Foreverford]

It depends on what passport you hold and your destination country. An american passport holder needs 6 months validity, one clean empty page and a visa for Vietnam. A British passport holder going to the USA just needs the passport to be valid during the visit. So passport is expiring in 7 days but visiting New York for 3 days and leaving before expiry everything would be fine.

Needing 6 months validity is common for a lot of countries but also a lot of countries don't have that requirement. Whenever your PP gets in the last 6 months its time to get a new one if you want an easy life. Its always worth checking the entry requirements of your destination if you want stress free travel.

Thank you for your reply and everyone else's. peace and love

[CNXBKKMAN]

Sometimes the check-in agent can be in automatic pilot so be ready to point out requirements if the demand something that is not correct. Remember the check-in agent may have started their shift at 3am , don't get paid much and has already checked-in hundreds of passengers. You can't expect them to know everything either about the all the worlds passports but they can check and find out when prompted.

[Foreverford]

Thanks again CNXBKKMAN (and all) for your help and thoroughness. I have my documents (visa letter from travel agent) for my visa from an agent and have printed out my correspondence with them and have decided to pay another 20 dollars to get a "fast track" agent from their company to meet me inside of immigration at the airport to facilitate getting our visa stamp. They appear to have government approval to jump the cue to allow us to get the stamp. I don't need this service but thought if i could present AirAsia with my letter and their confirmation of the service and people there for my visa would impress the person who has been at the counter since at least four am and as you say up way before three am to meet us at 5:30 am for our 7 am flight.

I called AirAsia and talked to another agent after this info from the blog a few days ago and he said that I need 6 months on PP and I told him I already had visa and info saying ok to come as long as one month left on passport by departure shown in the info I am posting below. He said bring the info and visa letter and present it to agent at the counter. I feel rather confident it will work out with all the documentation and especially with this KLM info that is dated and looks very good. Again Khap Khun Khap and Choke Dee

https://www.klm.com/travel/us_en/prepare_for_travel/travel_planning/travel_clinic/timatic.htm (thanks again KhunBENQ)

/ 08MAR16 / 0027 UTC

National USA (US) /Embarkation Thailand (TH)
Destination Viet Nam (VN) /Visited Thailand (TH)


Viet Nam (VN)



Passport required.
- Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be
valid for a minimum of 30 days beyond the period of intended
stay.
- When holding a visa for entry into Viet Nam, passports must
be valid at least 1 month after the expiry date of the visa.


Visa required, except for Passengers with a Certificate of

Visa Exemption issued by Viet Nam for a maximum stay of 90

days.
Visa required, except for Nationals of USA arriving at Phu

Quoc (PQC) for a maximum stay of 30 days.
Visa required, except for Nationals of USA arriving at Hanoi

(HAN) or Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) with onward tickets for a

connecting flight, on the same day, to Phu Quoc (PQC). They

are required to remain in the transit area of Hanoi (HAN) or
Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and clear immigration at Phu Quoc (PQC)

where they will be granted a maximum stay of 30 days.
Visa Issuance:
- Holders of a pre-approval letter issued only in Ha Noi, Viet
Nam by the Vietnamese Immigration (Ministry of Public

Security) or the Consular Department (Ministry of Foreign
Affairs), can obtain a visa on arrival for a max. stay of 1
or 3 months at Hanoi (HAN), Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), Da Nang
(DAD) or Nha Trang (CXR). Fee: USD 45.- for a single-entry 1
or 3 months visa; USD 65.- for a multiple-entry 1 month

visa; or USD 95.- for a multiple-entry 3 months visa.

Edited March 8, 2016 by theoldgit
Commercial link removed, as per forum rules.

[theoldgit]

I've edited the previous post to remove a commercial link and the reference to visa letters being from the government, they're not.

For the avoidance of doubt, visa letters are not official letters from the Vietnamese Government, they are letters supplied by an online travel agent, they in fact make this point clear on their website.

Whilst the government actually advises against the purchase of these letters, a note on display in their embassy, I've never known anybody encountering a problem using one.

[Foreverford]

OOps and sorry about the commercial link as I wasn't sure if it was ok or not.

Just an update that everything went perfect and would not have happened without all the above people's help and posts. My passport was kicked out at check-in at Don Muang but without asking me (I had shown letters for visa from visa agency with stamps from the Vietnam Immigration Department) she consulted another person and came back and told me in the future i should have six months on my passport but gave me my boarding pass and there were no issues in Vietnam with the visa as we paid an extra $20 US to have them meet us there to do all the paperwork with Vietnam Immigration as we just sat and waited (I figured with my situation it was best to spend the money though not necessary as "theoldgit" referred in his post).

A good lesson was learned, that hopefully everyone else in a similar situation will also learn from this one, and that is never let your passport get to within six months of expiration and actually when my wife and i return from the US this year she will have a little bit more than seven months left on her passport and I have told her she will need to renew it immediately as you never know when you may need to travel.

ALSO I could see thai immigration spent considerable time with my passport and discussions ( a very nice and friendly officer who was joking with me in introduction) with another and i am sure it was due to the limited validity of my passport but the passport had ten years of extensions for Non-Immigrant "O" and they let me go without saying anything but they really spent time looking at it.

Again renew before you passport gets to six months from expiration and again thanks to all of you that helped. And boy was it cold and foggy in Hanoi. peace and love