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Original poster

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

668 replies

olympicsrock · 15/02/2022 10:39

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
iheartme · 15/02/2022 12:08

Just try and get the soonest appointment, are you open to traveling for one? We were told a week but it was 2/3 days.
Think you've had a hard time here as there was a thread a few days ago about someone's DH having no time on the passport left with travel the following day, they were encouraged to just turn up and hope for the best.

thunderonlyhappenswhenits · 15/02/2022 12:08

We had to get our sons new passport in December 2019, booked a last min holiday for a couple of weeks time then realised his passport was up. We got a face to face at Liverpool for a couple of days later but we did have to wait for the passport to arrive by post, it took about five days. It's just not going to happen op

marqueses · 15/02/2022 12:08

@JuergenSchwarzwald

and the OP was not rude - she just asked people not to tell what she can read for herself
But what else can posters tell her apart from what she can read, what she's reading is correct Confused
marqueses · 15/02/2022 12:09

@iheartme

Just try and get the soonest appointment, are you open to traveling for one? We were told a week but it was 2/3 days. Think you've had a hard time here as there was a thread a few days ago about someone's DH having no time on the passport left with travel the following day, they were encouraged to just turn up and hope for the best.
Did he get on the plane?
mutantninja · 15/02/2022 12:10

I was in your situation last year too, I ended up flying to Belfast to get the one and only appointment and it still took a week. We managed to move our flights back by a day and made it. But from my experience that is all you can do, there's no way around it. The appointments do update/change so the advice to keep checking is correct. You might get one earlier. Grim situation but definitely no point in travelling with your current passport.

newbiename · 15/02/2022 12:10

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Five of us went for week and had forgotten to even take our passports with us but all the friendly officials said it was fine and just to remember them next time.
Where did you go? The Isle of Wight?
ComfyQuilt · 15/02/2022 12:10

@olympicsrock can you go to Tunisia instead? No extra passport validity needed…

JivingSince1982 · 15/02/2022 12:10

I would let DH and other DS go on the day and fingers crossed the day your DS pp arrives you can book flights and go same day/next day. Be prepared to pay through the nose given it's half term and last minute.

Have a cut off date agreed i.e. if new pp arrives on day 4 or later of the holiday, you and DS stay home and do nice things together/day trips etc.

It's rubbish I know, you never know it MAY come by your departure date if you can secure an earlier appointment than Fri 🤞

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 15/02/2022 12:11

@olympicsrock

Don’t you ever say things like Bloody Boris or Bloody Brexit??!! Some people here are patronising ***
Only when Boris or Brexit is actually to blame.

I didn't blame Brexit or Boris when I forgot to take my credit and debit cards to the shops.

TyrannosaurusRegina · 15/02/2022 12:12

The OP isn't being rude. She has stated that she knows the rules however is asking if anyone has been in the same situation. People who seem to have comprehension problems just keep repeating the rules to her which she has already stated, numerous times, that she knows. I'd lose my rag too if I were her.

Namechangehereandnow · 15/02/2022 12:12

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PheasantsNest · 15/02/2022 12:13

A parent from our school ended up flying to Belfast to get her DC a new passport. It came by courier two days later. It is possible.

LampLighter414 · 15/02/2022 12:16

If we were still in the EU we wouldn't have to worry about this.

As long as passport was valid you could prove you were an EU citizen and go anywhere unchallenged.

Shoddy airlines would make up their own rules and sometimes refuse boarding but fundamentally if you are an EU citizen nobody could refuse you anywhere as long as your passport was valid on that day. There would be news stories with complaints about passengers being wrongly refused and the airline would have to apologise.

Another perk of Brexit.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 15/02/2022 12:16

Where did you go? The Isle of Wight?

I was trying to do as the OP suggested and provide an anecdotal account of everything being fine. OP was complaining people were being "unhelpful" by pointing out the obvious.
I may not have been entirely serious.
I probably appear unsympathetic to OP's plight - that is because I am.

dementedpixie · 15/02/2022 12:17

@caringcarer

He won't be allowed to travel. You should always have 6 months valid time left on passport since Brexit.
Wrong, its 3 months within most European countries not 6 months
daimbarsatemydogsbone · 15/02/2022 12:17

@LampLighter414

If we were still in the EU we wouldn't have to worry about this.

As long as passport was valid you could prove you were an EU citizen and go anywhere unchallenged.

Shoddy airlines would make up their own rules and sometimes refuse boarding but fundamentally if you are an EU citizen nobody could refuse you anywhere as long as your passport was valid on that day. There would be news stories with complaints about passengers being wrongly refused and the airline would have to apologise.

Another perk of Brexit.

That's just bollocks, you still needed an in-date passport, have done for years.
Ifailed · 15/02/2022 12:17

Just say your son identifies as the Queen, she doesn't need a passport.

LemonViolets · 15/02/2022 12:18

it would be complete luck.

you could go to a passport office and try to get a last minute appointment. you might be lucky and get a cancelation.

or you can try your luck with changing the booking and swapping to a later flight.

or you could try your luck with trying to go with the passport as it is.

whatever you do luck isn't really on your side.

I've been in this situation, last year, first work trip since covid, got through security, and only when boarding the plane did someone realise my colleagues passport expired in just over a month, she was refused boarding.

It was a few years ago now but similar happened to another colleague, but he got out of the uk fine, it was only when we were flying home it was flagged, fortunately they let him board anyway, but he was told he could be refused boarding.

I also know someone who last year realised a few days before leaving for their holiday that their youngest passport expired in 2020, there was no way they could get a new one so decided to just try it, they strategically held the passport to hide it, and kept it in the middle of the stack of 6 passports,
I tried to talk them out of it, it seemed so stupid, but they had borrowed the money for the holiday and couldn't afford to loose it, so they did it.

They got through Manchester airport fine, I was gobsmacked when they texted me from the plane, they got into Lanzarote fine too.
The problems came when they were due to come home, I'm not sure where it happened but someone spotted the date, they pretended they had no idea and that it was a complete mistake, they spent 9 hours in a little room, being questioned about it, they missed their flight and had to wait to see if they would be allowed to fly home, in the end they were allowed and were booked onto a later flight, but they had to pay for the rebooking I think.
They treated the whole thing as a win, but they didn't seem to consider that had they been refused they would have had to have traveled to the British consulate to apply for a temporary 'return home' passport, which trust me is a bloody nightmare, I've had to do it when my passport was stolen and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Really I think it was incredibly stupid to even try.
You will probably just be refused at the airport though.

titchy · 15/02/2022 12:18

It's nothing to do with Brexit - this has always been the case. You can't travel on a passport that is due to expire as it doesn't allow for unforeseen travel delays for injury / sickness.

Of course it's Brexit - Brexit has caused a change to the rules. What would have been a perfectly valid passport is now not valid.

Op sympathies. I'd either go late if if turns up quickly, or if you can rebook go at Easter. If it doesn't turn up in time I would say morally you owe your kid a holiday - the cost of which may well be the same as gojng at Easter instead? Can one of you get covid and have to cancel and claim on the insurance?

titchy · 15/02/2022 12:19

That's just bollocks, you still needed an in-date passport, have done for years

The passport IS in date. Read the thread. Hmm

Pedalpushers · 15/02/2022 12:22

@TyrannosaurusRegina

The OP isn't being rude. She has stated that she knows the rules however is asking if anyone has been in the same situation. People who seem to have comprehension problems just keep repeating the rules to her which she has already stated, numerous times, that she knows. I'd lose my rag too if I were her.
But as PP said, what can anyone say other than the rules don't allow it? Any anecdotes of people managing it would by definition be unusual one offs even if they did exist, and therefore not something OP could rely on. 'The law says they won't let you on the plane' is a perfectly valid response as the people OP is looking to hear from don't exist.
Louisianagumbo · 15/02/2022 12:23

Yes of course we need to keep an eye on expiry dates but it's just not true to say Brexit hasn't made the situation more challenging.

It's not more challenging! There are tons of countries outside the EU that people have always needed 3+ months on the passport. Millions every year went to Turkey, Egypt, Anerica etc. It didn't put people off going. When you book a holiday, you check your passport. The op didn't do that and it could have been the passport had expired completely. It's an organisational fault not a brexit fault.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 15/02/2022 12:25

@titchy

That's just bollocks, you still needed an in-date passport, have done for years

The passport IS in date. Read the thread. Hmm

I've read it - it's Brexit that means the passport needs 3 months - that's been the rule for around 2 years now. Brexit has fuck all to do with the fact OP didn't check. Op didn't say "I thought the passport just had to be in date like it always was pre-brexit" OP's issue has NOTHING to do with Brexit AT ALL.
PurpleFlower1983 · 15/02/2022 12:27

Sorry OP but you will be turned away. This isn’t something that gets overlooked either accidentally or as an exception.

MrPoppysParka · 15/02/2022 12:28

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Five of us went for week and had forgotten to even take our passports with us but all the friendly officials said it was fine and just to remember them next time.
This made me proper laugh Grin