It’s especially important to check your children’s passports before your spring break trip. Adult’s passports are valid for 10 years, but passports issued to kids under age 16 are only valid for five years! If it’s been a while since your last big family trip, your children’s passports might be closer to expiring than yours.
Today, we’ll review some of our top tips for passports for family vacation travel.
Tip 1: Check the Passport Validity Requirements for Your Destination
Spring break is the perfect time to pack up the family and head to a sunny destination like Mexico, Jamaica, or the Bahamas! Keep in mind that everyone in the family needs to have a valid passport book any time you are flying out of the United States. But just how much validity does your passport need to have? Some countries require you to have a minimum of six months validity left on your passport in order to enter, but other countries will let you enter even if your passport is closer to the expiration date. Not sure of the passport requirements for your destination? Check out PassportInfo.com’s page on popular destinations, or review the State Department’s Country Information.Here are the passport validity requirements for some of the most popular destinations for spring break travel:
- Bahamas: passports must be valid at the time of entry.
- Bermuda: passports must be valid at the time of entry.
- Costa Rica: passports must be valid for the full duration of your stay.
- Jamaica: passports must be valid at the time of entry.
- Mexico: passports must be valid for six months past the end of your stay.
