Passport Validity Requirements

Question

Hoping a travel agent or someone with customs experience might be able to help.

I want to travel to Thailand but my son's passport has less than 6 months validity on it. However he has a second passport with a few years left (both are visa exempt for Thailand).

My thinking is:

1. He has to leave his home country on that passport as is required. Customs here won't prevent him from leaving because he will leave and enter on a valid passport.

2. The airline is responsible for boarding. If they say he can't travel on the first passport, I can show them the second and say he will enter Thailand on that as it has more than 6 months validity.

Is this correct? It is the airlines who are responsible for checking that passengers meet the destination requirements, isn't it? Customs in your own country will really only check that you leave or enter on a valid passport, won't they?

TravellerPlus · Accepted Answer

'Customs in your own country will really only check that you leave or enter on a valid passport, won't they?' Customs agents are interested in the goods a traveller is bringing into a country. Immigration staff are interested in the person with the goods.

If there are no formal passport checks on departure from a country your son won't meet border agents, but his passport will need to be compliant with Thailand's requirements for entry, and airline ground staff will confirm that.

Without knowing the passports your son holds and whether he's eligible for visa on arrival in Thailand, your questions are difficult to answer. Let us know more please.

bill2p · Answer

If the OP’s son is German dual citizen, he needs to show the airline the passport that’s valid for Thailand when checking in for his flight. Don’t even show the other passport. At passport control, exiting Schengen, he should show his German passport (or whatever passport he’s using for German residency) to the Immigration officer. On arrival in Thailand, at Immigration he needs to show the passport valid for entry into Thailand to get stamped in for his visa-exempt entry.

The reverse leaving Thailand for home — The airline check-in sees his German passport and Thai Immigration gets to stamp him out on the passport he entered the country with. On arrival in Germany he would use his German passport at Immigration, obviously, and leave the other one in his pocket. Brandishing two passports just confuses everybody.

There’s nothing illegal about this. Millions of people have dual citizenships and use the passport that’s appropriate for the trip.

Edited: today, 06:35

armrestdominance · Answer

If you have to show your passport to immigration staff when leaving, show the passport of your home country. When you get to the gate, show the passport that's valid for entry into Thailand. You don't have to use the same passport for both things. People with dual nationalities do this every day.

Passport Validity Requirements - Air Travel Forum

Passport Validity Requirements

3 replies to this topic