How Long Your Passport Must Stay Valid: Schengen, Canada, UK and the US
Every rule quoted here was read from the authority that publishes it, on the date named in the sources below. We update guides when the source changes.
The Short Version, and Why It Is Not One Rule
There is no single passport validity rule. There are four, they are counted from different dates, and using the wrong one is one of the few visa mistakes that is decided by arithmetic before anyone reads your application.
Schengen counts three months from the day you LEAVE. Canada counts six months from the day you TRAVEL. The UK asks only that the passport covers your stay. The United States counts six months beyond your period of stay, with a published list of exempt nationalities. Two of those are six months and they still land on different dates.
- Schengen: at least three months after your intended date of departure from the Schengen area.
- Canada: at least six months from the date you plan to travel.
- United Kingdom: valid for the whole of your stay.
- United States: at least six months beyond your period of stay, unless your nationality is on the State Department exemption list.
Schengen: Three Months After You Leave
The rule is in Article 12 of the Visa Code, Regulation (EC) No 810/2009. It says the travel document's
“validity shall extend at least three months after the intended date of departure from the territory of the Member States”.
The date that matters is your departure from the Schengen area, not your arrival and not the date you apply. If you fly home on 15 November 2026, your passport must be valid until at least 15 February 2027. A passport expiring on 10 February fails, even though it is valid for the whole trip and for three months after you applied.
Article 12 carries two more conditions in the same sentence: the passport must contain “at least two blank pages”, and it must “have been issued within the previous 10 years”. The ten-year rule catches people with extended passports — some countries add validity to an existing book, which leaves the issue date more than ten years back while the expiry date still looks fine.
Canada: Six Months From the Date You Travel
IRCC states it plainly on the visitor visa page:
“Your passport or travel document should be valid for at least 6 months from the date you plan to travel.”
Note the anchor. It is the date you travel, not the date you return. For a trip beginning 1 November 2026, the passport must be valid until at least 1 May 2027 — regardless of whether the trip lasts a week or three months. This is the opposite anchor from Schengen, and it is the single most common way people get the two rules confused.
The United Kingdom: Only the Length of Your Stay
The UK is the outlier, and in your favour. gov.uk says:
“You must have a passport or travel document to enter the UK. It should be valid for the whole of your stay.”
No three months, no six months. A passport that expires the day after you fly home meets the stated rule. If you have read elsewhere that the UK requires six months of validity, that advice has been copied from a different country's rules — gov.uk does not say it.
The United States: Six Months Beyond Your Stay, With Exceptions
The operative text is in the Foreign Affairs Manual, 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(1):
“An NIV is only to be issued in passports that are valid for at least six months beyond the initial period of contemplated stay in the United States, except in the following circumstances”.
The exceptions matter. One of them covers applicants whose passport was issued by a country that has an arrangement with the United States extending passport validity six months past the printed expiry date. Around a hundred countries are on that list, published at 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(2) paragraph f.
Be careful how you use that. The list is real, but it is the consular officer's to apply, not yours to assume. If your nationality is on it, the six-month shortfall may not matter; if you are not certain, treat the six months as the rule and check the list rather than guessing.
Work Out Your Own Date
Take your travel dates and do the subtraction before you book anything. The whole calculation takes a minute and it is the cheapest check in the entire application.
- Write down your departure date from the destination and your arrival date.
- Schengen: add three months to the date you leave the Schengen area.
- Canada: add six months to the date you first travel.
- UK: use your last day in the country.
- US: add six months to the end of your intended stay.
- Compare the result with the expiry page of your passport. If it is close, renew first — a renewal is slower than a visa appointment in most countries.
Why This One Is Worth Getting Right
Most of what a consulate weighs is judgement: whether you will return, whether your purpose is genuine, whether your funds are sufficient. Passport validity is not. It is a date compared with a date, and it is settled before your file reaches anyone who could be persuaded.
It is also the mistake that costs the most for the least reason. The visa fee is not refunded when an application is refused — Article 16(2) of the Visa Code says the fee “shall not be refundable”, and gov.uk says “You will not get a refund of the application fee if … your application is refused.” You lose the fee, the appointment and often the trip, over a subtraction.
Sources
Every rule above is quoted from the authority that imposes it, read on the dates shown. Verify them yourself — that is the point of quoting rather than summarising.
- Schengen: Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (Visa Code), Article 12 and Article 16(2), on EUR-Lex.
- Canada: IRCC, “Apply for a visitor visa”, canada.ca, read 4 September 2026.
- United Kingdom: gov.uk, “Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor”, read 4 September 2026.
- United States: 9 FAM 403.9-3(B)(1) and (B)(2), fam.state.gov, read 4 September 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the six-month rule apply to every country?
No. Six months is the Canadian and American rule, counted from different dates. Schengen requires three months after you leave, and the UK requires only that the passport covers your stay. Applying the six-month rule everywhere will make you renew a passport you did not need to renew; applying the UK rule everywhere will get you refused.
My passport expires two months after I return from the Schengen area. Is that a problem?
Yes. Article 12 of the Visa Code requires validity of at least three months after your intended date of departure from the Schengen territory. Two months does not meet it, and this is checked arithmetically rather than assessed.
What counts as the date of departure for Schengen?
The date you leave the Schengen area, not the date you leave home. If you enter on 1 November and fly home on 15 November, the three months is counted from 15 November.
Do extended or renewed passports pass the ten-year rule?
Not always. Article 12 requires the passport to have been issued within the previous ten years. Where a country extends an existing passport rather than issuing a new one, the issue date can be more than ten years old while the expiry date still looks current. Check the issue date, not just the expiry.
Check your file against these rules
Upload your documents and see which of the requirements above your file does not yet cover — the gaps are free to read, and every finding quotes the article it comes from. It will not tell you whether you will get the visa; nothing can.