Countries that require a passport renewal within 6 months?

Do I need to renew my passport in order to fly to the UK if it expires within 6 months of when I leave?

• I am travelling with friends to London in June and my passport expires in September. I've heard that some countries, specifically the UK, requires your passport's expiration date to be more than 6 months out but I haven't been able to confirm this information. Does anyone know if this is true or where I can get info about this? Also, does anyone know why countries do this? It seems a little silly to have an expiration date in the first place if you're going to require people to renew it before that date.

• Answer:

  See site below to see that the U.K. requires Americans to have passports valid only through the period of their expected visit. U.S. state dept info sheet on the UK uses to have this info, but it has been redesigned and the info is no longer there. Some countries require this because some visitors end up staying longer than planned ( whether legal or not) and then their passport expires and they are too stupid to know what to do about it and how to travel out of the country. Actually, many people write in here in exactly that situation. If there is any possibility you may stay there longer, it would be wise to renew your passport before traveling. The passport service recommends renewing it 9 months before the expiration date.