Travel to the US: Irish Passport Validity

[eggerb]

From: [broken link removed]
"In most cases, to enter the United States, you must have a passport that is valid for at least six months after the date you enter. However, the United States has an agreement with some countries (including Ireland) that allows you to enter on a current passport up to the actual date of expiration. An Irish/EU passport need remain valid only for the duration of the holder's stay in the United States. However, if you are traveling visa-free on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and your passport is valid for less than 90 days, you will generally be admitted only until the date the passport expires. Click here for List of Countries with Agreements with the United States to Extend Passport Validity."

Is this current practice does anybody know? I heard from a colleague today that it needs to be valid for six months from the date of entry.

(Apologies - this has probably been asked before on AAM but I couldn't find.)

 

[Perplexed]

I know when I was just passing through LAX a few months back I was told by Trailfinders I should have a passport with the encoding on the bottom otherwise I might have problems.
That means any of the passports issued in the last 2yrs. I'd check it out with your travel company. I think you have to get a special visa or something if your passport is older than that. I think therefore this relates to the Visa Waiver Scheme as mentioned above. Not 100% sure though....

 

[soy]

I know when I was just passing through LAX a few months back I was told by Trailfinders I should have a passport with the encoding on the bottom otherwise I might have problems.
That means any of the passports issued in the last 2yrs. I'd check it out with your travel company. I think you have to get a special visa or something if your passport is older than that. I think therefore this relates to the Visa Waiver Scheme as mentioned above. Not 100% sure though....

This refers to machine readable passport. Unless you have a hand written passport (very rare and) you will not have any problem.

I would not risk turning up at the airport with less than 90 days validity on the passport. US Immigration are very picky and it is too high a risk to take that you could miss your flight.

 

[Perplexed]

I definitely confirm that US Immigration is very picky. My flight was held up as they insisted that 2 people could not board & their luggage had to be taken off.
Pilot said it was because they had spelled the address incorrectly on their immigration papers & told us all to be careful filling in ours.

I wouldn't leave anything to chance when going to the US. I was only passing through en route to NZ & yet I had to take my luggage off so's it could go through their security. Whole procedure took so long I only reached my gate after they had already started boarding.

 

[DrMoriarty]

I flew Shannon/JFK two days ago and I saw people being sent back/held up for a long time at pre-immigration for (presumably) similar peccadillos. And I found customs/security at JFK quite finickity, too. I'd certainly agree that it's not worth leaving anything to chance on this count.

Oh, and make sure you have never been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude, however minor.

 

[KerryG]

I had this query last year, local travel agent told me I had to have passport valid for 6 months but I had also read what it said regarding special visas for Ireland etc. So went straight to horses mouth and rang US immigration in Shannon, they told me no problem once it was valid for my trip, so I travelled to US with a passport with well less than six months on it and no problem. Ring immigration direct and you will have the most up to date answer.

 

[papabravo]

My brother-in-law had the same concern in April. His passport was due to run out a couple of days after he arrived back from NY so he checked with the U.S embassy. Only very recently they have amended their restrictions on Irish passport holders to allow you to travel once your passport is valid for your stay.