What to check in your documents before a family vacation
A short, calm check for passports, visas, insurance and children's documents — the things worth confirming a week before your trip, not while you're already at the airport.
Why check a week before, not at the airport
Missing details rarely show up when it's convenient — a passport that expires mid-trip, an insurance policy that doesn't cover the dates you're travelling, a visa page you assumed was already stamped. A short check a week ahead gives you time to fix a problem; the same gap discovered at check-in usually doesn't. The goal isn't a perfect binder of paperwork, just enough certainty that nothing in your family's documents will surprise you at the gate.
Passports and their validity
A quick pass over every passport in the family catches most of what goes wrong.
- •Every traveller, including children, has their own passport that's actually valid for the trip dates
- •Many countries expect a passport to stay valid for months after your return date — check the official requirements of your destination country
- •The name on each passport matches the name on tickets and bookings
- •Enough blank pages left for stamps or a visa, if the destination requires one
Visas and entry permits
Whether you need a visa, an e-visa or nothing at all depends on your passport, your destination and how you're travelling — rules vary by nationality and change over time, so check the official requirements of your destination country rather than relying on a friend's last trip. If anyone in the family travels on a residence permit or a different passport than the rest of you, confirm their entry rules separately, and leave enough time for processing before you book anything non-refundable.
Insurance: coverage dates and what's included
An insurance policy is only useful if it actually covers the days you're away — check that the start and end dates match your travel dates, not the day you bought it. Confirm what's included: medical care, trip cancellation, lost luggage, and whether children and any pre-existing conditions are covered. If you're adding a policy just for this trip, note its "valid until" date in doki.help alongside the rest of your travel documents so it doesn't get forgotten next time.
Children's documents: consents and certificates
Travelling with children often means extra paperwork beyond a passport — a birth certificate, and in many countries a notarised consent letter if a child is travelling with one parent or with someone else entirely. Requirements differ by country and by who's travelling with the child, so check the official requirements of your destination well before you leave, since some consent letters need to be arranged in advance.
One place for the whole family's pre-trip checklist
Instead of checking each document in a different drawer, app or email thread, keep every family member's passport, visa, insurance and consent letters together, sorted by person, with the "valid until" date attached to each one. Open and save the ones you'll need before you leave, while you still have wifi, so they're available offline if there's no signal at the airport. Our travel documents checklist walks through this same list step by step.
FAQ
How far before a trip should we check our documents?
About a week — enough time to fix a problem like a soon-to-expire passport or a missing visa, but close enough to today's dates that nothing's changed since. Doing it at the airport leaves no time to fix anything.
How do I know if a passport is valid for our destination?
Passport rules — including how many months of validity are required beyond your return date — vary by country and change over time, so check the official requirements of your destination country directly rather than assuming.
How will I be reminded before a passport, visa or insurance policy expires?
By email, before the "valid until" date you set on each document. The reminder comes 30, 15, 7 and 1 day before that date.
Can I share a document with someone helping us plan the trip, like an agent?
Yes. Share a link that expires and can be revoked at any time, with a view limit and a log of every open — the recipient doesn't need an account.
Will our documents be available if there's no signal at the airport?
Yes, if you open and save them in advance. doki.help works as an installable app (PWA) that keeps previously saved documents available offline. It's in beta and doesn't replace the originals you carry.
Less than 15 minutes — and order that lasts.
Check your documents before the trip