Passport Validity

The 'six-month rule' — almost every country requires your passport to be valid for 6 months beyond your planned departure date.

Almost every country worldwide requires your passport to have at least 6 months of validity remaining beyond your planned date of departure from that country.

Why it exists: countries don't want stranded travelers whose passports expire while they're inside the country, complicating exit and rebookings.

All of South-East Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore)
All of the Middle East (UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman)
USA, Australia, New Zealand
China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan

Schengen Area — passport must be valid for 3 months beyond intended departure from Schengen
UK — must be valid for the duration of stay only
Canada — duration of stay only

The Indian-specific trap: Indian passports take 4–6 weeks to renew under normal Tatkal-free processing, and 1–3 weeks under Tatkal (additional ₹2,000 fee). If your trip is in 8 weeks and your passport expires in 7 months, you have <30 days of buffer — renew now via Tatkal.

passportindia.gov.in — official PSK booking; cheapest
Avoid third-party "expedited" services on Google ads — they're just resellers of the same Tatkal slots