Travel Documents?

**marknjen** · June 24th, 2009, 09:29 AM

Hello All,

Well this will be our first trip outside the US, and before I book my beautiful vacation, I have a question for you brilliant people... I have read somewhere that your passport needs to be valid for 6 months before you enter Jamaica. Can anyone please tell me if that is true.

**Janicek** · June 24th, 2009, 09:49 AM

Jenmark Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 12:30 am:

Before I book, I think I heard somewhere that your passport has to be valid for at least 6 months to enter Jamaica...Is that true???

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coloradojuli Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 11:54 am:

It can't expire within 6 months of your visit. So if you were to go in January and your passport expires in June you would need to get a new passport.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blondie9093 Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 11:54 am:

No I don't think so. I just read on the Jamaican Embassy's website what the requirements were for a US citizen (sorry just made that assumption) and you can actually travel to Jamaica as long as you passport has not been expired for more the 12 months. However you might not be able to get back into the States with an expired passport.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jrlorio Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 12:06 pm:

yes, that is not a requirement only for Jamaica but more of a policy enforced by all airlines.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geniermh Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 12:31 pm:

I went to CSA last year after only 3 months after my current passport was issued - is that what you mean by valid? If it is, then I am positive that can't be true. Hope this helps!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geniermh Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 12:32 pm:

I went to CSA last year only 3 months after my current passport was issued - is that what you mean by valid? If it is, then what you heard can't be true. Hope this helps!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Felixburns Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 12:34 pm:

I haven't heard that one. If you check the website, it may give you info on this. When we first went, I had only had mine a couple of months and didn't have any problems at all. That was a couple of years ago so things may have changed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coconut_cutie Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 12:48 pm:

I have never heard that. I got my passport not even a month before our honeymoon in 2007 and I did not have a problem.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pamela Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 01:03 pm:

There are some countries (e.g., England) that will deny you entry if your passport will expire six months or less from the date of your arrival. Jamaica does not do so. As long as your passport is valid, you're good to go.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jayandholly Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 - 03:49 pm:

re: "Before I book, I think I heard somewhere that your passport has to be valid for at least 6 months to enter Jamaica...Is that true???"

What they mean is you have to have at least 6 months LEFT on your passport before it expires.

**KrisJamie** · June 24th, 2009, 10:01 AM

I think it needs to still be valid for 6 months. Check the Jamaican Tourism site to clarify.

**jagorham** · June 24th, 2009, 10:39 AM

From the Jamaican Embassy to the US:

HTML Code:

http://www.embassyofjamaica.org/VISnorthamericanvisitors.htm

United States citizens may travel to Jamaica as tourists with passports provided they fulfill the following requirements:

A return ticket to the United States of America, or
A round trip ticket showing that he/she is entitled to be returned to the United States, or
A valid national passport, or
A passport which has expired for no more than 12 months, provided that the United States will re-admit such person on the expired passport [emphasis mine]
If the traveller is under 18, an ID Card, such as school ID will be accepted
Please note that copies of birth certificates, even if certified by a Notary Public are not accepted.

Travellers are also advised that the period of stay is granted at the discretion of the Jamaican immigration authorities, and that the period of six months is not automatic.

And from the US Customs and Border Patrol Website (to see if you can get BACK into the US):

HTML Code:

http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=74

If you are traveling in the Western Hemisphere, (Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central and South America):

ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda are required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document.

On June 1, 2009 all U.S. and Canadian citizens who are 16 and older traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), will be required to present a valid passport, passport card, Frequent Traveler card (NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST), Enhanced Driver's License (for residents in states that issue them) or Military ID with travel orders.

--------

Just as a general rule, most countries that let a "visitor" in have a six-month requirement for the passports.

The logic for the six-month rule is the most time you can spend as a "visitor" is six months, then you have to go "home."

This, of course, presumes that "home" lets you back in, and if you have a now-expired passport, "home" might not do so, and you're stuck in the visiting country.

As noted earlier, the airlines seem to be more concerned than Jamaica is; that's because if they fly you internationally and the arriving country won't take you in, the airline has to fly you back at their expense, so that gives them a big incentive to be extra cautious.

**Jeffmon** · June 24th, 2009, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by jagorham

From the Jamaican Embassy to the US:

HTML Code:

http://www.embassyofjamaica.org/VISnorthamericanvisitors.htm

You do not need to wrap HTML tags around links, they will post correctly by themselves or you can select the text and click on the icon that looks like a globe with a chain link.