passport expires in April,will i have problems travelling?

Hi everyone,
My US passport which has my UK ILR in it expires in April 2011. It looks like I am going to need to to back to the states at the end of november for 2 weeks or so and I have heard of not being able to travel within 6 months of the expiry date! Wondering if anyone has any knowledge on this? I searched back through some old posts and in my limited time I didnt find anything with exactly my situation!
If i do need to get a new one it appears i can do that through my nearest US embassy(edinburgh) and that I will need an emergency passport?

Any help advice would be great- I dont  like to post questions on UKY without mega researching but this has come up pretty quick and I dont have a lot of time right now to sift through!!

THANKS SO MUCH!
michelle

I've just had a look at both the US Embassy and UKBA websites and it seems that neither country requires 6 months validity on your passport to travel.

The UKBA website just says that your passport needs to be valid for the duration of your stay in the UK (this is obviously assuming that you are a visitor and don't have a visa... so as long as you renew your passport before it expires, this shouldn't be an issue).

The US Embassy says that there is no requirement that your passport must be valid for at least 6 months and that it only needs to be valid for the duration of your stay (obviously, as you are a US citizen, then it wouldn't really matter anyway, since you wouldn't have any immigration issues in the US even if it did expire while you were there).

I think my UK visa was issued with only 8 months remaining on my passport and I entered the US several times back and forth all the way up until it expired and I had to do it. 

On the plus side too, the Embassy in Edinburgh only took 5 or 6 days (including me posting my passport down there and them posting it back) to get a new one.  That was a few years ago, so not sure if they're quicker or slower now. 

Thank you both for that!

I have now read some airlines wont let you on the plane if your passport is about to expire which would be a total nightmare, gonna read the fine print on that!!

Again THANK YOU:)

seems like some sound info here as well...


http://www.wordtravels.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1580

I feel really stupid for letting it get to this point but after a death in the family I suddenly remembered that I need to get a new passport. I have been reading up on renewing my US passport in the UK and in my tired state I can see that I can apply for my new passport by post to London but my question is if it is possible to do this in Edinburgh in person by appointment or if that option is just for emergency or someone that might not have all the proper documentation(which I think I have).

I did search this sight but did not come up with anything current, and I have also looked myself in circles on the Uk gov site-so apologies if Im asking another question someone else may think has an obvious answer!

Any pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated!!

Thank you!

It is possible to get a same-day emergency passport but it looks like the consulate in Edinburgh only takes appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday. (http://edinburgh.usconsulate.gov/service/passports.html) The embassy in London has appointments Monday-Friday and an emergency appointment can be had if you are traveling within 36 hours. (http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/acs/passports/index.html) 

I got an emergency passport in Korea in 2008 when I lost mine in the DMZ and it was a surprisingly easy process. Hopefully it'll be the same for you. I'm so sorry to hear about the death in your family, I hope you're ok. Good luck!

If your passport is valid until a certian date in April, you can still travel until that date. Neither the UK or the US will refuse you entry based on your passport expiry date as long as you don't try to re-enter the UK AFTER your passport expires.

So as long as you come back before it expires you're ok.

Thank you,

I still dont actually know if I will be able to go to the States. Im mostly just trying to figure out if I can get a NON-emergency passport at the Edinburgh embassy or if that must be done by post?

Thanks again for your time!

I think you can only apply for first time passports in person unless you have need of an emergency passport or yours has been lost, stolen or damaged. Applying in person won't speed up the process in any case, since all non-emergency passports have to be sent to the States to process anyway.

Thank you,
I phoned the embassy today too and got it straight. I just thought it might be easier for me at this time -somehow, I just dont have a lot of time right now.

Thank you all!!!

I feel like such an idiot.

I have a few questions, if anyone has any insight into this it would be much appreciated!

I need to change my name in my new passport which I was just about to send away for but I cant seem to find what I remember as being our original Marriage certificate which I think I need to document my name change!

I seem to have 2 other records which I pulled out of my FLR binder from 3 years ago though..
1 being "record of marriage" which is the form we filled out ahead of time, a few days before the wedding.

2 being a copied piece of paper with "marriage license" on the top of the page & "marriage certificate" on the bottom half of the page. I have not ever used these except for the FLR application.

I always use the sudo fancy folded version with the Indiana state seal thingy..the one that is missing..

Then I stumbled upon the "Name change" page of the London US Embassy & saw all this stuff that I may need to submit?

http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/acs/passports/amendindex.html

So my questions are if I need to submit all this other proof that I changed my name or If the marriage certificate is enough ( the one I dont have)
or if I now need to just make the darn appointment at the Edinburgh Embassy.

Im finding this whole thing pretty embarrassing at this time seeing as how its take me so long to even look for my documents!

I do have my social security card with new name and my expired Indiana State Drivers license if that helps!

Again I would appreciate any help you folks may have, this site ALWAYS comes through when I have looked everywhere else-literally!

Thanks!

Michelle

Hey there,
Just hoping someone out there might be able to help?

When I call the Edinburgh Consulate it directs me to the website to make an appointment which when I go back to directs me to call the Consulate for an appointment.
Very frustrated, finally have some time today & will tear up the house looking for the marriage certificate..but again if anyone has any insight or if Im missing something really obvious please let me know!?

Thanks again!

Michelle