Passport rules to the EU. Did you know....

[Tailfeather]

...that your passport needs to have been issued within the last 10 years? It's not just a case of it still being valid or having x amount of months left. I've had 2 friends in the last few weeks get to the airport and been denied their holiday as they weren't aware of this rule. And they can't claim on insurance. I've seen others I didn't know who were turned away at the boarding gate.

Maybe you did know. But I thought I would share, just in case it helps one other person.

Surely they could just add "last travel dates" as information on the passport to stop people having to do calculations on this. I've never really understood why you need extra months after returning. It's not like you're going to become a different person or something. Either it's you or it isn't. But if it's really necessary then it should have "issue date", "valid for travel until" and "expiry" - presuming that it can still be used for id up until the expiry date.

Indeed.

No, it's 3 months remaining for the EU
And you can go by the expiry date when calculating that.

It expires 10 years after the issue date when entering the EU

We can also thank them for the beautiful new black (not blue) passports we all have to carry to show the world we are from dumb-ass Brexit Britain

The rules only affect those travelling in the EU. If you travel to other countries you can go by the printed expiry date but may need 6 months remaining after you leave

It hasn’t though, has it? we’ve just increased non-EU immigration to compensate. Totally pointless.

Thanks to the posters who have explained that this is around someone who has had their passport renewed early . I didn't understand what OP meant as I understood passports were valid for 10 years . Am aware of the part about needing the passport valid for further 6(?) months from day of travel but I certainly wasn't aware of this . Won't apply to me anyway as my passport had run out last time I renewed it (an emergency trip to passport office was needed !)

It's still stupid that they issue passports with a validity date of X, where for many countries it carries a validity date of X-Y. It would be far more sensible for them all to agree that your passport needs to be valid on the day you propose to use it (or say 'you need to renew it by this date'; obviously travelling on the last day would be extremely risky if then your flight was delayed and they had to put you on one the next day) and if that means it's issued for a slightly shorter time that's fine, but it's clear and transparent. There's no reason to issue passports with a claimed validity date which have an actual validity date for use for travel that comes earlier.

@Precipice they have stopped issuing passports with extra months added so since September 2018 all new passports are valid for only 10 years

Each country has a right to decide who and under which conditions they will let in.
Historically, traveling was slower and invalid passport was a really big issue, it would be easy to get stuck somewhere for months without one, especially when travelling home through third country, so the international standard was 6 months extra.

UK/US to EU is now three months extra - to cover emergencies like injury or cancelled flight without dealing with huge numbers of invalid passports.

Seeing a passport as something extra/expensive is more of a thing in the Anglosphere, in smaller European countries is having a passport very close to a human right (from times before Schengen), so it costs about 20£ here (standard 30 days), so the UK concept of adding the unused months seems weird and our legislation doesn't expect it.

Among EU members passport isn't required - official state issued ID cards are the first choice, and overstaying the validity isn't that big deal, inside the EU the invalid ID can get sorted and no-one would get stuck for ages. UK passport was seen as acceptable replacement for member's ID card, so it was seen under the same rules.

That's been widely reported for the last 4 or 5 years. I'm amazed some people have managed to miss it. I'm very sorry for your friend. I'd be devastated if my holiday got cancelled last minute

I didn't know this, thanks op.
I go on Facebook, don't watch/listen to news as much as I did, though do still regularly (since COVID, I reduced the amount of attention I gave it), it still managed to pass me by... Maybe my algorithms have me pegged as a staycationer. 😁

I did, but no harm in reminding people. Especially those with no ability to plan very far ahead.

Actually I'm glad they changed the passport colour. It's a real visual reminder of what we've lost. With the burgundy passport out young people had the freedom to live work and study in any of 31 countries, with the black passport, this is reduced to two countries.
Still, at least we have the freedom to dump shit in the sea now.

Yes. I don't even go abroad and I knew.

There is a government website you can go on that will tell you the exact date your passport expires so you don't have to work it out/worry. Sorry can't do link.

Haven't read the whole thread but I renewed DS's passport early so we could book a holiday and lost the remaining 6 months which were NOT added on. Is that the case for all passports now or is it because it's a child's passport?

If you look at your daughter's passport there will be a start date and a 'valid until' date.

Most people don't wait until their passport has run out before they renew it, then extra months are added.

So if you passport is due to run out in October this year you might send it for renewal August or September, in that case your passport is starts in August or September but run out in October in 10 years time. So your passport is a 10 year and 2 month passport.

It can also happen if you change your name and get a new passport.

Yes. Yes i do

Who doesn't know this?

It's not that the information has not been given. It has. It's not that it's not freely available. It is.
The question really is why people don't notice/absorb/check. How far does the government have to go to ensure people have taken notice of freely available information? Pop round to everyone's house with a leaflet and a form to sign to say they understand what they've just been told?

Maybe what we need is a storyline on EastEnders where someone couldn't go on holiday because their passport didn't meet the rules. 😁

Ahhh the benefits of Brexit!

They no longer add extra months so they will only ever be valid for 5 years (child) or 10 years (adult)

Extra months are no longer added. They stopped adding them in September 2018

I agree that it is confusing and I have seen different advice in different places.
However, the good news is that the passport office is extremely efficient.
I did a standard online renewal application 6 days ago and my passport is coming today.
Really easy process and they have emailed me at every stage of the process.

Well I didn’t really notice that it was from the date of issue!
I’ve got a few years left of my
beautiful red passport, the rest of my family
now have the scabby new ones. It just makes me sad thinking of what we’ve lost and I hate going through the non eu bit at the airport.
Fucking Brexit.