TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin How long does passport need to be valid?

I've read that it has to be valid for the length of your stay AND six months after your departure date. Can anyone confirm that arriving at Juliana only requires a valid passport for the duration of the visit? Thanks.

your passport must be valid for a minimum of six months AFTER the date of your DEPARTURE, period.

"Can anyone confirm that arriving at Juliana only requires a valid passport for the duration of the visit? "
Yes. That is correct but if you want to take a day trip to a neighboring island different rules might apply.

Wrong

jonmar--Are you going to be going to any other islands, like Anguilla? Some OTHER countries that you might be going to from SXM, like Anguilla, require that your passport be valid for six months after you visit. As Scuba and JD said, that does NOT apply to Juliana. If you're not going anywhere else, then you're good to go. If you are concerned about it, you could print out that page that JD linked, or make sure you can find it on your cell phone.

Absolutely inaccurate for Sint Maarten/St. Martin. See JD's link above to State Department page with the true information.

Just to complicate matters ..
From the U. S. State Department website, Dutch Sint Maarten says valid for your length of stay. French St. Martin and French West Indies require a 6 month validity period.

@Scuba - Yes, that is the case. I travelled through SXM last year on my old passport that was only valid for another 2 months. No issues at all.

We went to Anguilla and they checked the passport in Marigot before leaving SXM. I asked what exactly are you checking and they said they are checking to see if the passport is valid for at least 6 months. So keep that in mind if you leave SXM for a day trip.

Krbsol--that's why I said JULIANA in my post. Very few people fly into St. Martin, or out of it, unless they are going to St. Barts or Anguilla.

we were just in SXM and our passports expire in May, had no problems, I I did online renewal the other day. It’s working through the system now..

You can go to AXA and return to SXM via the Dutch side. We did a day trip last month and never left the Dutch side. Not sure how this would work as I don't know if it is a French St. Martin requirement or an AXA requirement but there are options instead of going via Marigot.

JD--I think it is an AXA requirement, so it doesn't matter whether you leave from Dutch side or French side.

Ok. I was not sure and did not take the time to research it.

Thanks everyone. Not going off the island so I'm good.

Enjoy your trip!