The six-month passport rule for the Philippines

The rule, exactly

UK government travel advice states it plainly: to enter the Philippines, your passport must have an expiry date at least six months after the date you arrive. Note what that means for a booking made months ahead. If you book in August for a flight home at Christmas, the six months is counted from your December arrival date - so a passport expiring in April is fine, and one expiring in May is fine, but you should be checking the December date, not the date today.

Why people get caught

Two reasons, both avoidable. The first is arithmetic - checking that the passport has not expired rather than that it has six months left after arrival. The second is that families check the passport of whoever books and not everybody else. Passports for children are the usual casualty: they are issued for five years rather than ten, so they expire on a schedule nobody has memorised. Before you pay for anything, lay out every passport and check every expiry date against the arrival date. We do this with you as a matter of routine.

What happens if it is short

You will be denied entry without a valid travel document, and in practice you are likely to be stopped earlier than that - airlines carry the cost of flying someone back, so they check at the desk. The same applies to a passport reported lost or stolen, even if you have since found it. If your passport is short, renew it before you book rather than after, and tell us the new number as soon as you have it so the ticket matches the document you will actually travel on.

While you are checking

Make sure the name on the booking matches the passport exactly - married names, second surnames and hyphenations are a recurring problem on Filipino passports where the maiden name of the mother is carried. And check you have blank pages. If you are a dual citizen, decide now which passport you are travelling on, because it changes what else you need.

Checked on 22 August 2026 - and please check again before you fly

Entry rules are set and enforced by the Philippine authorities and they do change. Everything on this page was checked against the official source on 22 August 2026: UK FCDO travel advice for the Philippines. We are a UK travel agency, not an immigration adviser, so treat this as a plain-English starting point rather than legal advice - and if your situation is unusual, check with the Philippine Embassy in London. What we will do is go through your paperwork with you before you pay for anything, so nobody finds out at the check-in desk.

Kami na ang bahala - we check this with you before you book

Most of the trouble we see is not complicated, it is just late: a passport with five months left, an eTravel QR nobody registered, a travel tax that did not need paying. When you book your flights home with us we go through all of it with you first, in Tagalog, Bisaya or English. And the trip itself stays affordable - secure your seats with a deposit from GBP 49 and pay the balance in instalments, hulugan ang natitira. Ask for our free 48-hour hold if you need to check dates with family: we hold the seat and the price and you pay nothing while you decide. Selected fares carry up to 40kg of bagahe, and we offer an NHS discount - say so when you enquire if you work for the NHS.

Frequently asked questions