The short answer is ten years for an adult, five for a child. The useful answer is longer, because the validity period varies by country, children's passports run on a different clock, and a passport stops working for travel months before the printed date. Here is the whole picture.
Validity by issuing country
The table shows the normal term for a passport issued today. Older passports may have been issued under different rules, so the printed date always wins.
| Country | Adult passport | Child passport |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 10 years | 5 years (under 16) |
| United Kingdom | 10 years | 5 years (under 16) |
| Canada | 5 or 10 years (your choice) | 5 years (under 16) |
| Australia, New Zealand | 10 years | 5 years (under 16) |
| Ireland | 10 years | 5 years; 3 years under age 3 |
| Germany | 10 years (24 and over) | 6 years (under 24) |
| France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic | 10 years | 5 years |
| Italy | 10 years | 5 years (age 3 to 18); 3 years under 3 |
| Spain | 10 years (30 and over) | 5 years (under 30) |
| Belgium | 7 years | 5 years |
| Austria | 10 years | 5 years (12 to 18); 2 years under 12 |
| Denmark | 10 years | 5 years (2 to 18); 2 years under 2 |
| Sweden | 5 years | 3 years (under 12) |
| Finland | 5 years | 5 years |
| Japan | 10 or 5 years (your choice) | 5 years (under 18) |
| South Korea, India | 10 years | 5 years |
| Mexico | 1, 3, 6 or 10 years (your choice) | Up to 3 years |
| Brazil | 10 years | Shorter, by age |
| Ukraine | 10 years | 4 years (under 16) |
A few patterns stand out. Belgium's seven years and Sweden's and Finland's five mean the renewal cycle comes around more often than people expect. Germany and Spain use an age threshold for adults rather than a fixed "18 and over." Mexico and Japan let you choose the term when you apply, so two Mexican passports issued the same day can expire nine years apart. If you are not sure what you were issued, do not assume: read the date.
Why children's passports are short
A passport identifies you by your photo. A toddler's photo does not identify the same child at seven, so every country shortens children's passports, most to five years, several to two or three for the youngest. The consequence for families is that a child's passport is the one most likely to be the problem on a trip. It expires more often, and because it is shorter, it spends a larger share of its life inside the six-month danger zone described below.
Some countries also handle children differently at renewal: both parents may need to consent, the child may need to appear in person, and processing can be slower. Check the earliest expiry in the household before you book anything.
The date you should actually care about
A passport's printed validity and its useful validity are different things. Many countries refuse entry unless the passport is valid for six months beyond your arrival, and the Schengen area wants three months beyond your departure plus a passport issued within the last ten years. Airlines enforce these rules at check-in. So a ten-year passport buys you roughly nine and a half years of worldwide travel, and the last six months are usable only for a shrinking list of destinations.
The passport six-month rule guide has the country list. The practical takeaway: the date to plan around is about nine months before the printed expiry. Put that in your calendar, not the expiry itself.
Renewing early
Almost every country lets you renew before expiry, and most encourage it. Two details matter:
- Whether unused months carry over. They usually do not. A new passport runs from its issue date, so renewing a year early costs you the year. That is a small price against a missed trip, but it is why people wait, and why they end up paying for expedited service.
- When renewal opens. A few countries only accept renewals inside a window, such as the final year of validity, or ask for a reason to renew earlier. Japan, for example, normally renews when less than a year remains, unless the pages are full or your details changed.
Processing times swing with the season. The months before summer holidays are the slowest almost everywhere. If your passport expires within a year and you have travel plans, start now; the guide on how to check when your passport expires walks through the renewal itself, and what documents you need for a passport covers the paperwork.
Keep the date where you'll see it
The failure mode here is not ignorance, it is timing. Everyone knows passports expire; nobody checks in January. Two habits fix it. First, when a new passport arrives, set a reminder for nine months before its expiry, and for each child's passport separately. The document expiry checker turns the printed date into a calendar file with the right lead time built in. Second, keep a photo of each data page somewhere private and searchable, so you can check from the sofa instead of the drawer. Paperlock does both at once: it reads the expiry date off the photo and reminds you 30 and 7 days before, with no setup.