Page 15 | Child’s passport only has 2 months on it. Flying to Spain on Saturday!

olympicsrock · 2022-02-15T10:39:01+00:00

Help!!! Just discovered that my 10 year old son’s passport only has 2 months left on it. We have flights booked to go to Spain on Saturday. . Has anyone travelled to Spain on this situation recently? What happened?? Were you refused permission to board the plane? I have phoned the passport office . There is absolutely no way to get a passport for him in the next 10 days as need to do face to face for child renewal , no appointments til next week abs then a week to deliver by post.

AChocolateOrangeaday · 15/02/2022 18:58

@oncemoreunto Rules are completely different for the USA.

We have a bi-lateral agreement with them that allows travel right up to the expiry date of your passport.

gunnersgold · 15/02/2022 18:51

In the past you had to go to London and get it done there and then . Can't you book an appointment or plan to go there .. even if you get on the plane the Spanish will Unlikely let you in

Peregrina · 15/02/2022 18:46

So don’t just check expiry date, check the issue date is less than 10 years. This is new since Brexit abs hasn’t been well publicised, catching lots out.

It changed before we officially left the EU, but well after A50 was enacted, so no doubt in anticipation of becoming a third country. But it was barely highlighted at all - it only got some publicity when people started complaining to the moneysavingexpert about the extra months not being added on.

It wasn't quite the sort of Brexit bonus the Government wanted us to know about.

dementedpixie · 15/02/2022 18:42

@oncemoreunto

We have non-immigrant visas which may change things but our dc were allowed to travel between the UK and USA at Xmas despite their passports having less then three months on them.( which was the amount of time it states is needed online)

So in some circumstances it is obviously waived.

your UK passport only needs to be valid for the length of your stay for going to the USA

Delatron · 15/02/2022 18:39

Another way to get caught out is the issue date. If it’s more than 10 years (even if you have 7,8,9 months left on it) you will be refused boarding.

So don’t just check expiry date, check the issue date is less than 10 years. This is new since Brexit abs hasn’t been well publicised, catching lots out.

Peregrina · 15/02/2022 18:38

You need the transplant - OP didn't check passport expiry - that has ZERO to do with brexit.

No need to be so rude to the OP. The OP checked the child's passport expiry date. Prior to Brexit (or up to the end of the Transition period) - absolutely fine, but she would have needed to make a note to herself to sort out the renewal soon after getting back.

Now because of Brexit, not fine. Now we can't even take the end date as printed on the passport as being correct if we added the extra months on.

Never mind how it didn't affect people going to Australia or Turkey or wherever - they were never in the EU. The UK was.

oncemoreunto · 15/02/2022 18:36

We have non-immigrant visas which may change things but our dc were allowed to travel between the UK and USA at Xmas despite their passports having less then three months on them.( which was the amount of time it states is needed online)

So in some circumstances it is obviously waived.

SmorgasBorb · 15/02/2022 18:35

@refusetobeasheep

wow, well my colleague is now in France so somehow she managed it!

They all had valid passports in the first place and she has made this up for attention or to make you think that she is special enough to have negotiating power with pilots and an entire country's immigration laws.

amatsip · 15/02/2022 18:35

I had this a few years back and got an emergency appt at London passport office and a same day issue but that was only because flight was already booked and I had to bring proof of flight tickets. My child’s has 10 weeks left on it at the time. They stated clearly they couldn’t guarantee same day all the way through the times they called me back up to the desk but relented after everything checked out. If you do try at main passport office have everything to hand.

SmorgasBorb · 15/02/2022 18:31

@refusetobeasheep

my colleague was stopped at the gate yesterday as her youngest boy's passport runs out late April. Refused boarding. All kids with her in tears. She can see the pilot and begs him to help. Amazingly he does and calls the destination airport who agree to let the child in. Made the plane late and is a high risk strategy though!!

What absolute bollocks. The pilot has no jurisdiction over immigration and border control! What did he do? March them up to to passport control when they arrived and demand to immigration staff that they let this poor distressed family in in the name of kindness?

Also 'she could see the pilot so begged him', from the gate aye? The pilot would have been miles away in the cockpit. If they were denied boarding then they wouldn't have seen the pilot full stop! They can't then squeeze through to go and remonstrate with the bloody pilot!

Honestly!

Veryworried22 · 15/02/2022 18:25

@refusetobeasheep

my colleague was stopped at the gate yesterday as her youngest boy's passport runs out late April. Refused boarding. All kids with her in tears. She can see the pilot and begs him to help. Amazingly he does and calls the destination airport who agree to let the child in. Made the plane late and is a high risk strategy though!!

🤣 and then you woke up.

Topseyt · 15/02/2022 18:19

@refusetobeasheep

my colleague was stopped at the gate yesterday as her youngest boy's passport runs out late April. Refused boarding. All kids with her in tears. She can see the pilot and begs him to help. Amazingly he does and calls the destination airport who agree to let the child in. Made the plane late and is a high risk strategy though!!

Utter bollocks.

Rivermonsters · 15/02/2022 18:18

@Satingreenshutters bro she’s under a lot of stress, she clearly doesn’t mean it

kitcat15 · 15/02/2022 18:11

@refusetobeasheep

my colleague was stopped at the gate yesterday as her youngest boy's passport runs out late April. Refused boarding. All kids with her in tears. She can see the pilot and begs him to help. Amazingly he does and calls the destination airport who agree to let the child in. Made the plane late and is a high risk strategy though!!

🙄

HaveringWavering · 15/02/2022 18:10

@refusetobeasheep

wow, well my colleague is now in France so somehow she managed it!

She’s not. She is too embarrassed to admit that she fucked up the whole family’s holiday so they are sitting out half term in a Travelodge in Luton, making the kids rehearse their made-up ski holiday anecdotes.

Silverswirl · 15/02/2022 18:09

@daimbarsatemydogsbone
As others have said you are wrong.
Before Brexit you could travel to Spain and back right up until the expiry date on your passport!
Now you need 3 months left.
It’s changed since Brexit. Not sure why you arnt getting that!
So yes, bloody Brexit is accurate.

PAFMO · 15/02/2022 18:08

I missed the other bit about making the plane late. So potentially another fine for the airline from the airport authorities in question.
@refusetobeasheep, are you basing your story on what you've seen on Home Alone? You don't know much about airports or flying do you? Or the law.

PAFMO · 15/02/2022 18:06

@refusetobeasheep

wow, well my colleague is now in France so somehow she managed it!

She got past the API details, through check-in, to the gate where she spotted the pilot of the plane who intervened on her behalf risking a massive fine for his company and disciplinary action which would probably warrant instant dismissal (y'know, helping a stranger to break the law etc) and when they got to France the French border authorities were also OK with this?

Give over.

Hoppinggreen · 15/02/2022 18:01

@refusetobeasheep

my colleague was stopped at the gate yesterday as her youngest boy's passport runs out late April. Refused boarding. All kids with her in tears. She can see the pilot and begs him to help. Amazingly he does and calls the destination airport who agree to let the child in. Made the plane late and is a high risk strategy though!!

This is totally true However the poster missed out the fact that her son had to travel in the hold

Alcoholabuse · 15/02/2022 18:00

Around ten years ago I had lost my passport. I don’t live far from a passport office, turned up, got told to come back in 30mins with some forms and got an express(?) passport.

Not sure that they were having a quiet day, the security guard/supervisor was just in a good mood. PP have said that you can’t get a 24 hour one for a child but maybe they can slot you in if you’re waiting outside?

But then again OP you do sound fairly rude so I’m not sure if you’re going to be the kind of person to charm them into being helpful

Foolsrule · 15/02/2022 17:59

Make sure you check what COVID restrictions there are in terms of jabs and covid passports are required by Spain for your son. That is the other potential time sensitive hurdle. very few as it turns out given the latest updates.

Foolsrule · 15/02/2022 17:57

@refusetobeasheep - don’t be ridiculous. Of course that didn’t happen. A pilot simply doesn’t have that power

Having done a stint working at Heathrow, it never ceased to amaze me how many people were - quite simply - a bit hard of thinking. So many would turn up with out of date passports, or spectacularly late as the M25 was busy (when is it quiet?). It was NEVER their fault. Except it was and the (inevitable) end result was that they missed their flights. I lost sympathy after about week three. The same old arguments and reasons and excuses EVERY SINGLE TIME. But never, ever, ever their fault. Idiots, the lot of them.

Louisianagumbo · 15/02/2022 17:56

@Fluffyslippersohyes

To be fair, my boss went from the UK to the Republic of Ireland without his passport about 20ish years ago (before the attack on the World Trade Centre). It was convoluted in the he had various documents proving his ID ( driving licence, marriage licence etc), and what got him through the desk was his membership card for the local zoo as it had his photo on it (didn't have a photocard driving licence). Things were a lot more lax then.

Good luck OP, I know it's disappointing. I think a lot of people are being caught out with this.

Not more lax. Nothing to do with WTC. The UK and RoI have a special arrangement and you can still enter the country without a passport but you do need some sort of ID, like a photo driving licence.

blueshoes · 15/02/2022 17:53

@ENoeuf

Watapalava There has NEVER been same day renewal for a child in England so people are lying or getting confused - the fastest has always been one week

This isn’t accurate unless you are saying I’m lying? I got an appointment in NI, flew there with all dcs documents and waited a few hours to collect it. This was about 15 years ago.

My ds 15 was in exactly the same position in October last year. They won't allow fast track or same day renewal but they will post the passport. It does not have to be 7 days just the minimum time it takes for the renewed passport to reach you by post.

We had our emergency appt on Monday and received the renewed passport midday Thursday just in time to take a flight early morning on Friday. If and when you get your appt (just keep stalking the website), tell the passport office about your situation. They will say there is nothing they can do but I think they did try to fast track it behind the scenes.

Make sure you check what COVID restrictions there are in terms of jabs and covid passports are required by Spain for your son. That is the other potential time sensitive hurdle.

Peanut82 · 15/02/2022 17:48

I renewed my kids passports a couple of weeks ago, never had to do a face to face I did it all online.
If you really can't get another passport in time then I'm afraid he won't be able to board