Will your passport still be valid under the destination’s rule? Choose the rule, then enter your dates. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Is your passport photo still inside the country’s freshness window? Enter the date it was taken.

Dates are the quiet reason applications bounce

Most passport headaches are about a number you cannot see: a date. Two rules catch travellers again and again. The first is passport validity — some countries want your passport to outlast your entry by six months, others only to be valid for your stay, and the Schengen area asks for three months beyond your departure plus a passport issued within ten years. The second is photo freshness — a photo that is months old can be refused as “stale” even though it looks fine, and each country sets its own window.

This calculator does the arithmetic so you do not miscount. Pick the destination rule and your dates for the passport side; pick the country for the photo side. It is deliberately honest about its limits: there is no single global 6-month rule, so it never applies one — you choose the tier, and it tells you the exact date your passport must reach. The rules it uses are the ones published on this site’s 6-month rule guide and photo validity guide, both verified against official sources in September 2026.

How to use it

• Passport validity: choose the destination rule, enter your passport expiry and your travel dates, and read the date your passport must be valid until — and how many days you have to spare or fall short.
• Photo freshness: choose the country or document, enter when the photo was taken, and see whether it is still fresh and how many days are left in the window.
• Always confirm: rules differ by nationality and destination and change over time. This tool is arithmetic on the dates you enter, not legal advice — check the destination authority, and your airline, before you book.

Frequently asked questions

Is there one global 6-month passport rule?
No. There is no single global rule. This site's 6-month rule guide groups countries into tiers: a real 6-month tier (China, India), a 3-month-after-exit tier (the Schengen area), and a validity-only tier (Japan, the UK, where the passport need only be valid for your trip). Always confirm the destination's current rule.

How old can my passport photo be?
It depends on the country. Most follow the ICAO-aligned default of 6 months; Singapore wants 3 months, Canada allows 12, and the UK is the strictest at one month in the windows we track. Pick your document in the calculator to see the exact window.

Why do airlines sometimes reject a passport the country would accept?
Airlines often enforce rules stricter than the destination's, because they carry the cost of flying you back. Even where a country asks only that your passport be valid for your stay, an airline may still insist on a validity buffer, so treat this calculator as the country side of the check and confirm your airline's own rule.

Does this tool store my dates?
No. Everything runs in your browser on the dates you type — no upload, no storage, no account. The page sends nothing anywhere.

Which authorities do the rules come from?
The tiers the calculator uses are the ones published on this site's A-grade guides, verified against official sources in September 2026: the 6-month rule guide (China, India, Schengen, Japan, UK, Vietnam) and the photo validity guide (per-country freshness windows).

What if my destination is not listed?
Use the default 6-month option, which is the safe assumption when no specific rule is published, and confirm with the destination authority. Rules by nationality and destination differ and change over time.

Related: the full tier table is in the 6-month passport rule guide, and the per-country photo windows in the photo validity guide. Then check the photo itself with the passport photo checker, and see every checklist on the visa checklists hub.

6-month rule ← All tools