Passport Validity for US Visa

boarddotie

Hi all,

Have tried to find this answer online and onboards but no luck. Maybe ye could help.

I will be getting a 2 year Visa to the US in the next few weeks (until Oct 2012) but unfort my passport is out of date 7 months before that (March 2012). For Visas do you have to have a passport that extends beyond the duration of the visa itself?

If yes and I go to renew my passport will they be wonderign why I am doing this since there is still 1.5 years left on the passport?

Any experiences or advice? Thanks

alex73

boarddotie wrote: »

Hi all,

Have tried to find this answer online and onboards but no luck. Maybe ye could help.

I will be getting a 2 year Visa to the US in the next few weeks (until Oct 2012) but unfort my passport is out of date 7 months before that (March 2012). For Visas do you have to have a passport that extends beyond the duration of the visa itself?

If yes and I go to renew my passport will they be wonderign why I am doing this since there is still 1.5 years left on the passport?

Any experiences or advice? Thanks

call the embassy

Ponster

You should be fine. This is from a US gov website. It's still a question that you need to contact the embassy for though.

Uless previously canceled, a visa is valid until its expiration date. Therefore, if the traveler has a valid U.S. visa in an expired passport, do not remove the visa page from the expired passport. You may use it along with a new valid passport for travel and admission to the United States.

boarddotie

alex73 wrote: »

call the embassy

You cant just give the US embassy a buzz...:rolleyes:

Ponster wrote: »

You should be fine. This is from a US gov website. It's still a question that you need to contact the embassy for though.

"I should be fine" is no good to me, thanks but no offence. Theres a special German number to ring that costs up to €16, thats the on;ly contact with embassy. Just thought maybe someone else would know who has actually gone through it without going through that myself...

Ponster

boarddotie wrote: »

You cant just give the US embassy a buzz...:rolleyes:



"I should be fine" is no good to me, thanks but no offence. Theres a special German number to ring that costs up to €16, thats the on;ly contact with embassy. Just thought maybe someone else would know who has actually gone through it without going through that myself...

Well no offense now but IMHO it's a little naive to not be willing to spend €16 to potentially save you $$$ and instead bet everything based on the advice of an anonymous person on the 'net.


http://travel.state.gov/visa/questions/questions_1253.html#7

My old passport has already expired. My visa to travel to the United States is still valid but in my expired passport. Do I need to apply for a new visa with my new passport?

No. If your visa is still valid you can travel to the United States with your two passports, as long as the visa is valid, not damaged, and is the appropriate type of visa required for your principal purpose of travel. (Example: tourist visa, when your principal purpose of travel is tourism). Both passports (the valid and the expired one with the visa) should be from the same country and type (Example: both Uruguayan regular passports, both official passports, etc.). When you arrive at the United States port of entry (POE) the Customs and Border Protection Immigration Officer will check your visa in the old passport and if s/he decides to admit you into the United States they will stamp your new passport with an admission stamp along with the annotation "VIOPP" (visa in other passport). Do not try to remove the visa from your old passport and stick it into the new valid passport. If you do so, your visa will no longer be valid.

BuffyBot

So the whole US government website quoted above isn't authoritative enough for you...?

Ponster's post is correct

http://travel.state.gov/visa/questions/questions_1253.html#7

boarddotie

Well thank you all for that in that case.

All that doesnt apply to my situation as I have not got the visa yet-I still think the passport need to have a validity of a certain amount of time beyound the validity of the visa when originally applying for it.

Also, in the case that the passport runs out while I am in the US I will have to apply for new P'port in the US. Presume that would be slightly trickier?

boarddotie

Ok, found it elsewhere. Thanks all.

Confirms that passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months after you enter the US.

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/ds-160-form/passport-information.html

ilovelove

well obviously if your passport will run out in 1.5 years and you plan to be there for 2, its safe to say get a new passport before you go as you will only have to apply for a new one while your over there.

The passport office aren't going to be wondering what your doing applying when you have 1.5 years laft, it seems pretty straight forward to me "im going to the states for 2 years and this runs out in 1.5"

You can get the visa onto that passport and apply for a new one and then just use the visa on the cancelled passport, its just annoying as you'll have to carry around both passports and if you leave America to even go to Mexico or Canada you'll need both.

I would advise on just getting the new passport, but id say you already know that yourself:rolleyes:

ilovelove

boarddotie wrote: »

Ok, found it elsewhere. Thanks all.

Confirms that passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months after you enter the US.

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/ds-160-form/passport-information.html

after you enter the US but not after the visa runs out

you're still going to have to get a new passport in 1.5 years and you'll be over there

Ponster

ilovelove wrote: »

you're still going to have to get a new passport in 1.5 years and you'll be over there

Wouldn't it be possible to get a new passport while over in the USA or is that too much hassle? (I've done it from France without any problems).

ilovelove

Ponster wrote: »

Wouldn't it be possible to get a new passport while over in the USA or is that too much hassle? (I've done it from France without any problems).

Ah no you could of course, its just easier to do it when you're in the country, its quicker and you can send off your passport and have it back in ten days before you've even left the country? just be easier i reckon!