Job Discussion Forums

davester13 · Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 26

Hello,

Thanks for reading my post.

I am an American who is currently teaching in Saudi Arabia. I will be traveling to Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and possibly Israel for two and half months, starting on February 19. Travel books advise travelers to have a passport that is valid for at least six months before the expiration date when entering a foreign country. When I enter Egypt, my first stop, I will have at least six months left before my passport expires, but for the subsequent countries, I will have less than six months (my passport officially expires on September 6, 2010).

Logically, I plan to contact the American embassy here in Saudi Arabia to find out what I can and must do to resolve this potential problem, but I wanted to post my query here. Any thoughts about what I and the embassy can feasibly do so that I can travel with my passort without any issues? Any specific advice you could give me would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

I'd extend renew the passport or you may have problems with Saudi immigration.

007

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Even if there is no physical stamp in the passport, if there is evidence that you have been to that country we should not name, you may be denied entry to KSA - and other Arab States.

davester13 · Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 26

Just to clarify, when I leave the KSA for my trip, it will be for good; I will not be coming back, so problems with Saudi immigration won't be an issue.

So, would I be able to renew my passport with the embassy, even though it will expire almost nine months from now?

007 · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 11:13 am Post subject:

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I cannot see what the problem is. They will renew your passport. Why not ?

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I'd assume that the embassy can get you a new passport. (I did one in Oman years ago) But, with the new requirements, you might not have enough turnaround time with only one month.

Only the embassy can answer this one for you...

VS

usa_in_gulf · Joined: 10 Aug 2009 Posts: 133 Location: Gulf

I renewed my passport while on vacation last summer at the US Embassy in Riyadh. They told me my new passport would be ready for pick-up in two weeks- the embassy transmits the info to the states/passport is actually issued from the states---it actually arrived in one week.