Valid Passports and the 6 Month Rule
Jan 13th, 2008 by Kevin
Wes and I have been busy finalizing preparations for our next trip to Nicaragua to begin development work for our Las Laderas Development initiative in northwestern Nicaragua. Tickets have been booked, inter-country travel arrangements set up, meetings set with other land developers, local business owners, and partners, excursions planned to view and document the property in more detail etc etc. Our departure is fast approaching - Jan 20. In the midst of all this my sister in-law mentioned to ensure that my passport was valid for 6 months past the date of travel. (She had recently been to South America) Passport valid for 6 months! – We were only going for a business trip of a week! Well, I looked at my passport and low and behold, it expires at the end of April. I knew it was coming up in the next few months and I had all my renewal information ready to go, but was planning on submitting it once I got back since you need to send your old passport with the packet.With 4 months to go until expiry, I hadn’t expect this to be a problem due to this short trip, and you cannot stay in the country as a visitor longer than 90 days regardless.
I have traveled lots and don’t ever remember this being an issue in the past. On booking this trip, our travel agent never mentioned anything and even after I called again, they looked it up and couldn’t see any need beyond having a valid passport. So I am saying to myself what gives? Being Canadian, I called the Canadian consul in Nicaragua and they confirmed that Nica immigration does in fact require that a passport be valid for 6 months, but weren’t sure how strict the rules were. Maybe I could negotiate with them once I get there? Likely not – I called the airlines (Taca) and they said that I would likely get stopped in my departure from the US in LA. Not so bad, but if I got through there, it might get worse – if I get stopped in our transfer in El Salvador.Getting to Nicaragua wouldn’t be as bad – at least we know people there. Getting stuck in El Salvador – not so good.
So here I am wondering how I got stuck in this situation, and when did this law come into effect since it seems to be news to most people? In my frustration, I started Googling around to see what I could find about this. As best as I can see, this law has only been in place for less than a year in the Western Hemisphere, but couldn’t find any more specifics. Here is one article I found. I saw references to changing passport laws in late 06 and early 07. I then continued my search further for Nicaragua more specifically, and found a couple references here and here. Funny, now that I am looking in detail it seems obvious, but obviously not to most people. I then searched for Canadian references, and found a reference to it in there as well in wikipedia with this reference. I am sure you would find the same with your own nationality.
In talking with our business partners who do extensive business in Nicaragua, it turns out that a number of folks are now getting held up in this same situation. A Canadian woman trying to get to Nicaragua was held up in Mexico for the same problem.
So here I am a week before our business trip, with a request into the Canadian consul here in the US to see about an extension visa or some type of expedited passport processing just to try and do some honest business in a foreign country. Not sure what my odds are now about leaving on the 20th probably not so good, but maybe we will get some good luck. Stay tuned. So for any of you out there heading to Nicaragua (or any country outside your home for that matter), its best to make sure your passport is well within its expiration date to save headaches such as this. Anyone else had experiences with this rule?
