By Kit Darling
Are you planning a trip to warmer places this winter? Maybe spring in Paris or the trip of a lifetime to Vietnam and Thailand? Then keep reading. One of our readers, Harold Lovegrove wanted to share his experience with travel and passports. He was planning a trip to Portugal. Sounds wonderful. He booked with a travel agency and thought everything was taken care of. And then he learned that his passport would not meet the entry requirements. As we can imagine, there was a mad scramble to ensure that he didn’t forfeit this long-planned trip. Portugal and other European countries require that your passport must be valid for 3 months after you leave the country. Some other countries require your passport to be valid for 6 months beyond the date of your departure. Some airlines have even more stringent requirements so it is wise to check before you fly. You could find your self ready to board and be turned back at the gate.
The government of Canada has a list of countries and their passport requirements at http://travel.gc.ca/destinations. It includes travel advisories as well as visa / passport requirements. So be prepared, plan ahead and happy trails.