Portolan Passport validity

How many months of passport validity do you need for Ethiopia?

To enter Ethiopia, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months after the date you arrive.

The rule

Check your own dates

The rule is one thing; whether your passport clears it on your travel dates is another. Turkey counts 150 days, not five months. Costa Rica counts one day. Schengen countries check two rules at once.

Run the check for Ethiopia

What happens if you do not meet it

Airlines check validity at check-in and can refuse to board you — they face fines of 3,500 to 10,000 US dollars for carrying a passenger who is then refused entry. One denied boarding costs the traveller between 1,200 and 2,400 US dollars in lost fares, hotels and rebooking. In 2025, 1.2 million people were denied boarding or entry over passport problems, and 40% of those were validity.

Source, word for word

Your passport must be: valid for at least 6 months after the date you arrive in Ethiopia machine-readable

UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office travel advice for Ethiopia · updated 2026-05-29 · written for British passport holders. Published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

This verifies published rules. It does not guarantee entry — the final decision is always the border officer's. If your passport is not British, your destination's rule may differ: confirm with the embassy.

Other destinations

Korea, DPR (North Korea) · Netherlands · Somalia · Uzbekistan · Brazil · Eritrea