Can You Travel With an Expired Passport?
Friday, April 10th, 2009If you’re planning on traveling outside the US with an expired passport, you’re out of luck. A valid US passport is required for international travel. The only exception to this rule is if you’re traveling by land or sea to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. In that case, you’ll be able to get by with your photo ID and a birth certificate until June 1st. After that, the rules change, and you’ll need a valid passport. For more information, see “Do I Need a Passport to Go to Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean?”
If you’re traveling outside the country and you are going anywhere other than Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, you need to have a passport and it needs to be valid. In fact, many countries require you to have at least 6 months left before the expiration date on your passport.
If you try to travel with an expired passport, you probably won’t be allowed on the plane. Even if the airline doesn’t catch that your passport is expired, you’ll certainly run into problems when you try to get your passport stamped after you land.
So, don’t risk turning your vacation into a bureaucratic nightmare. Check the expiration date on your passport before you book your trip! Ordinarily, it takes at least a couple of months to get your passport renewed in the mail. However, if you have a trip coming up in the near future and you notice that your passport is expired, don’t panic. You can get an emergency passport!
The easiest way to get an emergency passport is to use a private passport expediting company. You don’t have to make an appointment or wait in line. All you have to do is fill out the paperwork for your passport renewal, send it to the expediting company along with all the necessary supporting documents, and the expediting company will hand-deliver it to the US Department of State for faster processing. Your new passport can be on its way back to you in as little as 24 hours!
Don’t risk trying to travel on an expired passport. Renew your passport with us today!



