Urgent help needed only 2 months left on passport

[ellen10]

My son and German daughter in lawyer due to fly out tonight on and Emirates flight via Dubai to Frankfurt.

She only has 2 months left on her German passport. Her new one is waiting for her to collect in Germany. Last night they tried to check in online and an error came up.
They will only be transmitting for a couple of hours in Dubai.
Will they be allowed to board the flight?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Edited: I had thought this would be ok as your daughter will be transiting through Dubai without seeking entry (TWOV). None fo the sites offering access to TIMATIC (used by check-in staff to determine eligibility) uncover any problems with a passport of only 2 month's validity.

However, the UK's foreign travel site: Entry requirements - United Arab Emirates travel advice says:

Passport validity
Your passport should be valid for a minimum period of 6 months from the date of entry into the UAE. If you hold a residence permit, your passport must be valid for at least 3 months in order to travel into the country.

If you’re transiting the UAE (and not passing through Immigration) your passport only needs to have a minimum of 3 months validity from the date of transit.

The rules for German passport holders might be different.

I would contact Emirates as soon as possible to confirm, but it seems you might be ok (fingers crossed)

 

[ellen10]

Yes they tried to ring them last night and the operator had no clue. Qantas seemed a bit more helpful as it the ticket was booked through Qantas. Ive told them to ring Emirates again today.
Thanks for your reply. I have been googling all night!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

How did you go?

 

[ellen10]

@MEL_Traveller thanks for your concern.

We think it is going to be ok. We contacted the German consulate today and got a letter from them saying that her new passport was waiting for her in Germany. Then rang Emirates and spoke to a man who was then able to check her in over the phone. So she's checked in for her flight. Which departs at 21.45pm tonight. Once she gets to Germany she must update her new details straight away.

Fingers crossed that all is good now as the flights cost a whopping $6000 for two in economy. They booked them late, as daughter in law had to wait for her bridging visa to come through before she could leave the country. They have applied for a partner visa almost 12 months ago but still waiting.

I read (so many internet searches late last night) that when transitting Dubai they may just check your passport only at the gate, as you don't do immigration. So I will be very happy when they are on the plane and even more happier when they arrive in Germany!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

@MEL_Traveller thanks for your concern.

We think it is going to be ok. We contacted the German consulate today and got a letter from them saying that her new passport was waiting for her in Germany. Then rang Emirates and spoke to a man who was then able to check her in over the phone. So she's checked in for her flight. Which departs at 21.45pm tonight. Once she gets to Germany she must update her new details straight away.

Fingers crossed that all is good now as the flights cost a whopping $6000 for two in economy. They booked them late, as daughter in law had to wait for her bridging visa to come through before she could leave the country. They have applied for a partner visa almost 12 months ago but still waiting.

I read (so many internet searches late last night) that when transitting Dubai they may just check your passport only at the gate, as you don't do immigration. So I will be very happy when they are on the plane and even more happier when they arrive in Germany!

I was not worried about entry to Germany. She could travel there on an expired passport It was the transit in Dubai that had conflicting reports.Whether or not there are passport checks in Dubai doesn't really matter... it's whether or not 3-months is needed just to transit airside. This would affect boarding in Australia. (So pretty much once they're on the plane they'll be good to go )

 

[Pushka]

I was not worried about entry to Germany. She could travel there on an expired passport It was the transit in Dubai that had conflicting reports.Whether or not there are passport checks in Dubai doesn't really matter... it's whether or not 3-months is needed just to transit airside. This would affect boarding in Australia. (So pretty much once they're on the plane they'll be good to go )

There seemed very little specific information about being in transit for a couple of hours as opposed to a transit that saw you enter into Dubai.

 

[DC3]

The dil seemed to have a lot going on. At least it looks like it will turn out okay.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

As long as they can board in Australia they'll be fine.
As @MEL_Traveller observed, she will have no problem entering Germany.
And in Dubai they would be unlikely to stop a German national in transit boarding a flight to Germany.
It would cause too many headaches. Having to detain or deport her.

 

[ellen10]

Woohoo they are through!! The checkin agent did raise the question about the passport expiry but they explained the situation and had the letter from the German consulate.
They are now relaxing in the Qantas lounge after a pretty stressful 24 hours, (we had a couple of credit card lounge passes to use for them). They have a long flight ahead to Dubai. The plane is full and by the time they booked the only 2 seats together are the middle pair of 4 ouch! They are both over 6 feet tall! But you know, they are just very happy to be going and spending a winter Christmas with family.

 

[DC3]

Woohoo they are through!! ...

Thank you for reporting back. A good outcome.

You being a longtime AFFer, I didn’t have any doubts that you would let us know.

Edit: It seems to be a bit tricky to seek feedback now, as we have been informed on another thread not to comment on discussing whether an OP will report back, unless I’ve misinterpreted:

There is no need for commentary on whether the OP will post an outcome or not. Future posts on that subject may be removed for being off topic.

 

[Pushka]

Great outcome.

Thank you for reporting back. A good outcome.

You being a longtime AFFer, I didn’t have any doubts that you would let us know.

Edit: It seems to be a bit tricky to seek feedback now, as we have been informed on another thread not to comment on discussing whether an OP will report back, unless I’ve misinterpreted:

Really? Surely it’s about not drawing conclusions when the OP doesn’t reply after a few days and not just asking the question politely?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Really? Surely it’s about not drawing conclusions when the OP doesn’t reply after a few days and not just asking the question politely?

Agree.

 

[DC3]

Really? Surely it’s about not drawing conclusions when the OP doesn’t reply after a few days and not just asking the question politely?

Yes great outcome, really.

Edit: An AFFer asking (seemingly politely) was the issue. Maybe I missed something? Anyway, not wanting to take anything away from the great outcome, here. It’s a big relief for those involved.

 

[support]

Edit: It seems to be a bit tricky to seek feedback now, as we have been informed on another thread not to comment on discussing whether an OP will report back, unless I’ve misinterpreted:

Asking for an update = OK.

Bad-mouthing the OP and launching a side topic on whether they will ever visit again = Not OK.

My comment in the other thread was mainly to nip it in the bud before it started heading down a silly path, as it has in other threads of late.

 

[ellen10]

Final update: Kids arrived safely in Germany. No hassles or questions in Dubai.

Bottom line is that they would not have been able to fly without the letter and verification from the German consulate that a new issued passport was waiting for collection in Germany. UAE would not have let her in without more than 3 months remaining, but also no airline would have let her fly because of only 2 months left on her passport.

The kids, who are normally on top of all current things - but overlooked this little/big glitch, but DIL thought that because the passport was issued and awaiting collection she thought it would be ok. This blaring problem only came about at 11pm the night before the flight when I messaged my son and said "less than 24 hours until your flight you should log in and see if you can change your seats". So he thought while I'm there I may as well do online checkin and then the big red error message arose! Normally they would have just turned up at the airport to check in and of course not been able to fly.
So a good outcome, but a timely reminder.

On a side note DIL unbeknown to me had packed Christmas crackers in her carry on, as she didn't want to crush them in her check in bag, to take to her family in Germany and of course they were confiscated!!

 

[DC3]

Final update: Kids arrived safely in Germany. No hassles or questions in Dubai.

Bottom line is that they would not have been able to fly without the letter and verification from the German consulate that a new issued passport was waiting for collection in Germany. UAE would not have let her in without more than 3 months remaining, but also no airline would have let her fly because of only 2 months left on her passport.

The kids, who are normally on top of all current things - but overlooked this little/big glitch, but DIL thought that because the passport was issued and awaiting collection she thought it would be ok. This blaring problem only came about at 11pm the night before the flight when I messaged my son and said "less than 24 hours until your flight you should log in and see if you can change your seats". So he thought while I'm there I may as well do online checkin and then the big red error message arose! Normally they would have just turned up at the airport to check in and of course not been able to fly.
So a good outcome, but a timely reminder.

On a side note DIL unbeknown to me had packed Christmas crackers in her carry on, as she didn't want to crush them in her check in bag, to take to her family in Germany and of course they were confiscated!!

Good to hear about a happy ending, especially taking into account the dil.

 

[Pushka]

Final update: Kids arrived safely in Germany. No hassles or questions in Dubai.

Bottom line is that they would not have been able to fly without the letter and verification from the German consulate that a new issued passport was waiting for collection in Germany. UAE would not have let her in without more than 3 months remaining, but also no airline would have let her fly because of only 2 months left on her passport.

The kids, who are normally on top of all current things - but overlooked this little/big glitch, but DIL thought that because the passport was issued and awaiting collection she thought it would be ok. This blaring problem only came about at 11pm the night before the flight when I messaged my son and said "less than 24 hours until your flight you should log in and see if you can change your seats". So he thought while I'm there I may as well do online checkin and then the big red error message arose! Normally they would have just turned up at the airport to check in and of course not been able to fly.
So a good outcome, but a timely reminder.

On a side note DIL unbeknown to me had packed Christmas crackers in her carry on, as she didn't want to crush them in her check in bag, to take to her family in Germany and of course they were confiscated!!

Mums and Dads come in very handy. Flying is the ONLY thing that my sons and DIL allow me to have any influence.

Christmas crackers in carry on? This generation is very clever, has great use of all the IT yet still do, well, dumb stuff hey?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Final update: Kids arrived safely in Germany. No hassles or questions in Dubai.

Bottom line is that they would not have been able to fly without the letter and verification from the German consulate that a new issued passport was waiting for collection in Germany. UAE would not have let her in without more than 3 months remaining, but also no airline would have let her fly because of only 2 months left on her passport.

Glad this worked out ok and they can enjoy a white christmas

Just some thoughts on the issue of the passport.... the letter from the German consulate is unlikely to have had any material impact (or at least if it did, it was incorrect for the agent to do so).

Your DIL could have travelled to Germany on a completely expired passport, as a German citizen they have to let her in. She is also under no obligation to renew her passport now she has arrived in Germany (she could stay there forever if she wanted too )

The issue is transit stops, and whether countries en route are willing to allow a passenger with an expired, or nearly expired passport, to transit. In 99.9% of cases it doesn’t matter, but some countries are concerned that if there are delays or cancellations, passengers may end up trying to ‘enter’ the country to go to a hotel. For this you need to meet entry requirements, including passport validity.

The ‘promise of a passport at the other end’ doesn’t change this. The ‘promised passport’ isn’t in the passenger’s possession, only their current one. And if that doesn’t meet the entry requirements, the passenger may be refused entry.

In this case it seems that the UAE is happy to accept transit passengers with less than three month’s validity in their passport. And that is consistent with TIMATIC. Only the UK gov site says the passport needs three months even if on a pure airside transit.

 

[ellen10]

Mums and Dads come in very handy. Flying is the ONLY thing that my sons and DIL allow me to have any influence.

Christmas crackers in carry on? This generation is very clever, has great use of all the IT yet still do, well, dumb stuff hey?

Yes I agree @Pushka our kids are very clever both have masters degrees and have very responsible jobs. DIL speaks 5 languages fluently and they are great young people but they were just so busy with work commitments that they forget to look after their own personal stuff. And yes the flying stuff I like to help with but they did this all last minute, we don't live in the same city. At least I could give them some lounge passes to relax before the flight, they sent me a photo of them enjoying some celebratory bubbles.

@MEL_Traveller DIL's father went to where the German passport was awaiting pickup and they allowed him to take photos and details, this was then given to the German consulate in Sydney where an official letter was given to her. Whist at the consulate they rang Emirates and spoke to someone who checked her in. Without this assistance she was told she would not have been allowed to check in and transit through Dubai. The German consulate were very helpful and we were glad for their help.

And I know @DC3 what was she thinking with the Christmas crackers!!

And yes they are hoping for a white Christmas!