Do layovers need to be concerned with the local passport laws?
I am traveling with my daughter to Israel from NYC on ITA airlines for two weeks. We have a connection in Rome (transit) for three and a half hours. We will NOT exit the airport in Rome at all.
We all have valid passports but my 11 year old daughter has a valid passport the will expire a month AFTER we return to the United States. Italy has a rule that a passport needs to be valid for three months after the departure but again we are not staying in Italy and only have a connecting flight 3 or 4 hours later to our destination (Israel).
My question is, will my daughter have an issue or will it be ok since we are simply connecting through Italy and not leaving the airport?
By the way, Israel currently does NOT have an issue with the passport having extra time as long as the passport is valid upon entry and upon exit. Thank You!
Best Answer
As long as you're not going through border checks (i.e.: leaving the airside area of the airport), you should be fine. Since you're traveling from outside Schengen to outside Schengen - you shouldn't be going the border checks at any point. If you want to spend some time in Rome while waiting for the connection, then you may have an issue, but with 4 hours connection it's probably too short.
Flights to Israel go through additional security, so be at the gate early.
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Do you pass passport control on connecting flights?
In almost all cases, if your bags are checked through to your final destination and you already have your onward boarding pass, you'll go through transit security when you land at your connecting airport instead of customs.Do I have to go through security again for a layover?
For most domestic layovers, you won't have to go through security again. However, some airports have separate security checkpoints for each terminal, so if you land in one terminal and your next flight is in another, you would have to go through security again.How do domestic layovers work?
In general, if you're on a domestic flight, once you land for your layover, you'll pass through a transfer area that will take you to the gate for your next flight without having to check in again. Your bags will automatically pass through to the next flight without you having to collect them.What is the difference between a layover and a connecting flight?
While these terms are often used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. A layover is the time you spend at the airport between two flights. A connecting flight is the next flight in your itinerary that you're waiting at the airport to take.A Basic Guide to Layovers
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Answer 2
Here are the people who can check your passport on the way:
- Airline check-in agents. Will check your paperwork against Timatic, the database used by airlines for this purpose. See below.
- Origin country passport control - none in the US, and even when there's one, they usually don't care about other countries' requirements.
- Airline gate agents, if the check-in agents did not check, same rules as above.
- Transit country passport control - does not apply if you stay "airside", which is apparently your case (double check you don't have to switch terminals, though).
- Destination country passport control - at this point obviously any requirements for the transit country are not their problem.
In your case (I'm considering you have US passports, let us know if I'm wrong), Timatic says:
Travelling to Israel via Italy
Travelling to Israel
Passport
Passport required.
(...)
Document Validity:
Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid for the period of intended stay.
(...)
TRANSIT INFORMATION
Transit Countries
Italy
Passport
(no requirements regarding passport)
So the only requirement is that the passport is valid for the the period of intended stay in Israel. No requirement for Italy.
It is possible that the check-in or gate agent may initially be confused (especially if they are new) as they will be applying the Italy rule for many (most?) people they're checking, but they should quickly revert to reality once they realise you are in transit. If they don't snap out of it, tell them to "check Timatic".
Note however that there are quite a few Covid-related requirements for both Israel and transit through Italy I have removed from the quote, as this wasn't relevant to your question. You may want to review those.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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