What is the first thing you should do when planning a trip abroad?

When planning a trip abroad there are so many little details that need to be considered and acted upon. How to get there, where you’ll stay, is it okay to pack jeans, will you burn down your hotel if you bring your own blow dryer, should you visit the Louvre or the Musée d’Orsay, the list just goes on.

But no matter where you are planning to travel, unless you are a U.S. citizen heading to Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands, the first thing you should do before you start planning any trip out of the country is open your passport and check the expiration date.

If your passport is definitely expired (or you can’t find it!), your next step is to find out whether you can renew online or if you need to renew in person. Then set your travel dates to start after whatever the time frame is to receive your new passport.

If you’ve found your passport and checked your expiration date and it won’t expire before your planned departure date, that’s great! But you’re not done. Your next step is to open the U.S. State Department website, type the name of the country you’re planning to visit into the search box, and click on the link that will take you to travel information and travel advisories. For instance, if we type “Italy” into that search box, the top link it returns is described as “Italy international travel information and Travel Advisory.” This page is going to give you a few more important bits of information that you need to know about traveling with your passport.

It’s not enough for your passport to be valid upon your arrival; every country will have it’s own preference for how long they want your passport to be valid beyond the time you’ll be visiting them.

As we can see above, our State Department recommends that your passport have 6 months of validity for traveling to Italy and three months of validity past your departure from anywhere in the Schengen Area. If you show up at an airport in Italy and your passport is valid but expiring within the next 6 months, you can be denied entry. Will they actually stop you from entering the country due to your passport expiration dates? The answer is maybe. They might make a big deal out of it, they might send you through without question. We always advise our travelers to err on the side of caution. Better to make sure your passport meets the guidelines than fly thousands of miles and spend thousands of dollars only to have to turn around and fly home.

Also note, the Italy international travel page tells us that you’ll need two blank pages in your passport book but you do not need a tourist visa if you are planning to stay less than 90 days.

One more thing to consider - if you have previously reported your passport lost or stolen, and then you find it, do not use it to travel as it is100% invalid.

It’s always a good idea to check the State Department website for any country that you are planning to travel to before you start putting your itinerary together. You can also call or email the U.S. embassy in that location or the U.S. based embassy for the country you want to visit. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. The staff at most diplomatic missions will answer calls and emails and generally do their best to help you work through any issues.

Click here for more information about how to apply for a U.S. passport or renew your passport.

Please note: nothing that we have written here should be construed as legal advice and we do not have any affiliation or association with the U.S. government, the U.S. State Department, or the Italian government. We can only offer advice based on our own experience and always STRONGLY ADVISE you to do your research and reach out to the appropriate officials if you have passport questions.