Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on whether a 16-year-old needs an adult passport to visit the US

Have a travel question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

A teenager doesn't need a new passport to fly to the US (Shutterstock)

Q My 16-year-old daughter is travelling to the US this summer. Her passport is valid for another two years, but since it was a child’s passport when she got it, does she need a new one?

A No. The fact that your daughter has changed, from a UK Passport Office perspective, from a child to an adult, is not relevant for a trip to the US. The Foreign Office says: “Your passport should be valid for the proposed duration of your stay. You don’t need any additional period of validity on your passport beyond this.” And the Department of Homeland Security says only: “The passport must have a machine-readable zone on the biographic page. The passport must be an electronic passport with a digital chip containing biometric information about the passport owner.”

Because your daughter’s passport was issued in 2013 (and is valid for five years), it ticks both these boxes; the last UK passports that did not comply were issued in October 2006.

Apply in good time for an Esta - the Electronic System for Travel Authorization. The correct website is esta.cbp.dhs.gov, rather than any of the scam sites that seek to capitalise on the way people search online, by charging a huge premium on the normal $14 (£10) fee. The Esta will be valid for two years, or until your daughter’s passport expires – which should be around the same time.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder