Finding conflicting info! I’ve got a trip soonish, and my passport will be outside the 6 months validity period on departure date. However, FCO seem to be saying I only need it valid for duration of the trip.

Which is right? Don’t really want to have a rush in to the passport office to renew in the run nuptials to Christmas!

Duration of stay is fine, I visited a couple of years ago with a month left on my passport without issue.

Still need to have a valid ESTA though obv. Unfortunately you’ll need to re-do it for your new passport when you get it.

For reference – https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirements

I’d go with the US version of facts rather than the fco, they are not the ones on the border. There is a helpline/contact on the page. Ask then

think it might depend on if you have a biometric data passport?? which most people should have by now?

Was fairly sure the passport has to be valid for 6 months (or was it 3?) on arrival in US, but you’re right the gov sites are saying just valid for the duration of the trip. Maybe because of the ESTA Visa waiver thing now. You can get the ESTA online quickly and lasts for a few years.

I’m liking the auto-correct in the OP.

Oops! 🙂

As already stated above, since the Visa Waiver Program was introduced it only need be valid for the period of your stay.

If you still have an old ‘non-electronic’ passport then it will reject you at an early stage (assuming you use the proper Gov’t website at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/). When doing ours for a big family trip the other week it questioned one of the older passports but as long as it has the little “camera like” symbol on the front you’ll be fine:

Mine was fine in Boston last month with ~5 months left on it and it doesn’t have a camera symbol on it. The automatic kiosks did reject it and I had to go and see a human, but it wasn’t a big hassle.

I was fine in NewYork last month, mine expires in July ’16

Thanks all. Mine is indeed biometric and so it looks like I’ll be fine.