When to renew passport

[spottedinthewilds]

So if you can't travel with less than 6 months on your passport when is the best time to renew?

If I renew when I have say 8-9 months left do I lose out on cost?

All of ours run out next year and I don't want to get caught out.

Any advice please?

Passports (presuming into EU from UK) need to be valid for 3 months after the intended departure date and less than 10 years old.

Not sure where the 6 months thing in your OP comes from.

So you need new passports when the old ones are 9 yrs and 9 months old for adults and 5 years and 9 months old for kids.

Personally if they run out before next summer and you're not travelling until then I'd be renewing them in the new year.

I think several countries require 6 months. I renewed at 9 years and 3 months to ensure my passport came back in time for my holidays. Yes you do lose out on 9 months but that's just how it is.

I did mine recently and it took less than a week so that might help you decide when to do it! Did it all online

Thank you, I don't mind losing our time/money wise I just don't want to wait and not be able to travel.

i take it there is no limit on how early i can renew? so could do 9-12 months to get them done together?

You can renew when you want I renewed after my last holiday in September as I needed a name change too. Took a week. Id renew in Jan or Feb.

Different countries have different rules. Some require you to have six month before the date of expiry on the day you enter the country.

Check the rule for the country you are visiting on Gov.Uk or the countries own website and don’t rely on a single answer on here.

Many countries have the 6 month rule

OP, I realised mine would have only about 2 months when I travelled and the country I'm going to requires at least 6 months.

I only had 4 months left anyway when I realised so renewed straight away, got it back in under 2 weeks. I think once you're down to the last 6 months you're fine to renew, and best to do it sooner rather than later as it gets busier towards the summer months.

If you're going to the EU, you also need to remember the 10 year rule. Ours don't expire until September 2026 but we're going to renew them by the end of next year because we can't use them to enter the EU after mid January 2026.

Other countries have different rules so you need to check on gov.uk for the countries you might travel to.

I don't think there's a time before which you can't renew them, but if you do it at a quiet time of year (probably outside the main summer season) they'll probably come back in a week or two.