USVI-On-Line

Going to STJ in June and I noticed that the expiration date on my passport is up in December.

Seems fine to me, but my wife said she's heard from friends that have had trouble using passports that were within six months of expiring. They weren't traveling in the VI's, but it still got me to thinking.

Anybody had any bad experiences using a passport that was close to its expiration date?

Thank you.

Usually not an issue in US territories. Argentina growled at me once about this, but since I was only staying a week, they relented.

54b -- if you're planning a side trip to Jost it may be an issue. As a general rule most countries these days require your passport to be outside of 6 months before expiration.

It never hurts to re-up your passport if you have time but in your case I wouldn't sweat it if you just plan on visiting the USVI's.

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Thanks for the comments...is two months plenty of time to get a passport renewed? I know they have way of expediting it.

54b,
2 months is plenty of time for the renewal. It shouldn't take more than a few weeks. But I still would do it sooner rather than later.

SJ,
Since you're only going to Jost for a day I really doubt that they'll deny entry on a passport with less than 6 months to go. Also, since a Visa approval isn't necessary for a trip to the BVI, the 6 month expiration rule probably isn't as mandatory. If you were traveling to China or somewhere that required a visa approval first, you likely wouldn't even be given a visa approval without a passport that is valid for less than 6 months.

I hope you both have awesome trips. We just got back 2 days ago and I miss it already.

Do it sooner than later! It just took us 11 weeks to get my daughters passport (of course that included the 3 weeks it took the postal service to get the application from Pennsylvania to Washington DC).

On a side note, I called the US State Department to find out where her passport was and I was told three times by the guy that I didn't need a passport or her birth certificate to come home from the virgin islands. I told him that I have done this 29 times before and I am certain that I have to go through customs and immigration to come home and I really needed the birth certificate back. Apparently even they don't know the answers.

I agree with MichiganCouple. I believe the 6-month window is for countries that require a Visa. ie) if you were travelling to a country that allowed you to enter for up to 6 months at a time and your Visa was to expire within that time-frame then you would not be allowed entrance).

Definitely not a problem for the USVi, since passport is not required and it is just a good form of identification.

I doubt it would be an issue for a day trip charter or ferry to Jost or some other BVI destination. The Visa connection makes sense, but I had heard it could be an issue in European countries as well.

As for time, my husband's renewal was turned around in 3 weeks.

Worse case scenario, you're stuck on St. John for that extra day. If you really want to do some day trip, you could do a snorkel day trip that stays in USVI waters. Check with Captain Phil (Wayward Sailor) or Breath (if you're in Coral Bay). There are many others, as well.

Have a great trip.

I looked at this issue for our most recent trip in February because my passport was about 4-5 months away from expiring. I read a post either here or in TA Forum that someone had called BVI customs and its fine for entry as long as your passport is still valid at all times during your trip. Anyway---I didn't get my passport renewed before my trip and I had no problems whatsoever(went to BVI 3 times in fact). HOWEVER, I just looked up the official site for customs and it says you need 6 months left on your passport--glad I didn't know this on my trip.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-liv ... ments&pg=4