Child's passport
We hope to take 2 overseas trips next year, one in the spring and one in the summer.Our son is 14 and his passport will expire in August 2013. I've heard that you should renew a passport early, because some countries don't want to admit people with 6 months or less on their passport. Does that apply to kids? Our passports are good till 2018, and we'll be traveling with him. He's too young to stay on his own, let his passport expire, and try to work under the table.
I'd like to get every bit of value out of the passport before renewing and paying a fee again. Plus I hate bureaucracy.
Also, I wondered: he'll turn 18 three years into his new passport. I assume he'll be issued a 5-year passport, but will he get to keep for 2 years into his adulthood, or will he have to switch to an adult passport when he turns 18?
1
Where are you from?In the UK a childs passport lasts 5 years even if they're 19 when the 5 years is up - it'll be good for those 5 years.
The UK's foreign office website clearly explains what's required for each country. When I've looked at it, there doesn't seem to be any specific exceptions for childrens passports (e.g. going to France if you're staying less than 3 months then you only need your passport to be valid for the duration of your trip.
www.fco.gov.uk
2
Hi,For passport validity you should check with the country's embassy website how much validity and blank pages in the passport they require, however generally it is 6 months and During my years as a check-in agent I never heard of an embassy having a different time frame for children.
In regards to requiring an adult passport at 18yrs or being able to continue using his child passport you should check with your countries passport website, if the answer is not there give them a call or send an email.
It is best to have the information about these issues direct from the source and not just hearsay.
Happy travels next year.
