Warning: Your Passport "Expires" Three Months Before It Expires
It’s one of your worst travel nightmares: You show up at the airport, packed and ready to fly overseas, valid (non-expired) passport in hand, and you’re told, just a few hours before your fight is scheduled to take off, that your passport is not valid for the destination you’re headed for.
Huh?
We’re seeing more and more American travelers getting turned back because their passport is within three months (or, in some cases, six months) of expiration. Due to the variety of entry and visitor policies of many foreign countries (including super-popular destinations like Italy, France, and Spain), you need to make sure your passport is valid for at least three months after your departure date. For some countries, especially many in Asia, the period may be six months.
Rather than try to explain the varied policies of every destination you may have on your bucket list, we’ll send you over the U.S. State Department, which has a handy tool for researching your destination’s requirements.
READ: "11 Worst Travel Nightmares (And How to Make Them Go Away)"
What do you do if you’re scheduled to fly to, say, France next week and you’ve just realized your passport will expire in less than three months?
Luckily, there’s an app to help with that. ItsEasy.com just launched the very first passport renewal app that streamlines the entire process. Founded in 1976, ItsEasy is a United States Government–registered passport- and visa-expediting company based in New York City.
Download the free user-friendly app on your smartphone or tablet, and you can renew your passport, get photos, fulfill visa requirements, and use the emergency info button (just in case you lose your passport or visa while traveling in another country), all easily and safely. The app also has a renewal reminder that will notify you nine months before your passport expires. Using it to take passport photos is easy: Snap your picture, and it will be reviewed and approved by ItsEasy passport pros, then opt to have it printed by ItsEasy and delivered by first class or overnight mail, or choose to have it emailed to you to print yourself.
READ: "How Not to Be a Jerk on a Plane"
ItsEasy charges $29.95 for its passport renewal services, in addition to the Department of State's passport fee, which includes a trackable priority United States Postal Service shipping label, passport photos, all of the forms, and order status updates. Customers can choose standard or expedited renewal. Once the application is submitted, ItsEasy emails customers the full passport application to print and complete, a checklist to ensure it’s all taken care of, and a secure trackable USPS priority shipping label to send everything to ItsEasy. They will review and process everything before passing it on to the U.S. Department of State.
“Why wouldn’t you want an app that saves you precious time and money?” David Alwadish, CEO and founder of ItsEasy, has said. “Between buying the envelope, postage, passport photos, and running around for the errand, if the value of the users’ time saved is factored in then the savings would grow exponentially. We are providing you with peace of mind with government-approved and regulated experts handling the entire process—including pre-checking of documents, printing the photos, writing the check, and gathering what you’d have to go buy yourself. I can confidently say that you’ll be aware of where your application is at all times.”