My malaysia passport is expiring soon, what is the procedure to renew in New York City?

Question

My passport is expiring in 5 months time. I read somewhere that the passport's validity period has to be not less than 6 months) Will I have a problem since I have passed the 6 months validity period? I'm a U.S. green card holder.

Answer 1

if you have less than 6 months, you cannot leave the country, no airline will let you on board;

go to the consulate in New York and get your passport renewed.

Malaysian Consulate in New York, United States    

Consulate General of Malaysia, New York      

313 East 43rd St.

New York, NY 10017

USA

City: New York

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9.00 a.m - 5.00 p.m

ps:

most countries will NOT let you leave unless you have at least 6 months left of validity left on your passport,

one should travel to know that?

the US would NOT let me leave since my passport only had 5 months, nor would the airlines would let me board;

Answer 2

The previous answer is wrong.  Of course you can leave the US if your passport is due to expire in less than six months; and if you are going to visit Malaysia, you will be able to renew it there if you don't have time to do so in the US.

Although most passports are formally considered not valid for travel if there is less than six months' validity remaining, the US (and many other countries) has signed bilateral agreements with most countries in the world - including Malaysia - extending the expiration date of the foreign passport for six months.  In effect, this means that the passport can be used for international travel until the day it expires.

Here is a link to the rule that pertains:

http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/09fam/0...

See the section 9 FAM 41.104 N2.1

And here is the list of countries to which it applies.  As you can see, Malaysia is included:

http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/09fam/0...