To ask someone else tired than me to help me interpret this passport rule?

[Passportpondery]

I’ve read so much conflicting info… and I’m tired. But I believe my passport to be usable for a trip to France in December. Travel agency is recommend 6 months left on it rather than 3… but I believe even with 6 months I’m ok.

Can someone check I’m applying rules correctly!
Printed on passport:
Valid from date: May 13
Expiry date: Feb 24

Gov.Uk site :
Your passport must be:

Issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the ‘date of issue’)

valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

You must check your passport meets these requirements before you travel. If your passport was issued before 1 October 2018, extra months may have been added to its expiry date.

I believe it works as ten years from May 13 would be useable until May 23.
And the 3 month rule (or 6 if following travel agency advice) applies to my EXPIRY date of Feb 24, and not the date of May 23.

This thread just shows what a joke brexit has proven to be.

Where are you travelling to?

As an fyi, I renewed my passport very recently, took less than 2 weeks.

You're not covered by shengin if going to an EU Country. Your passport becomes invalid May 23. So if you're travelling you can't be in a country later than jan/Feb 23 if it's 3 months validity or it's effectively expired if 6 months. I just went though the same.

Absolutely. 100%,

Sorry I missed that you are travelling to France. This is correct. You need to always check the rules in the country you are travelling to.

Am I right in thinking that before Brexit you could travel to the EU up to the expiry date printed on your passport? I can't remember ever thinking about this before then.

I do remember panicking and having to get an expensive new emergency passport for my daughter because her passport expired two days before the six month extra rule. Going to the Caribbean, had stupidly looked at the day we arrived, rather than left, and counted six months from then. Double checked and picked this up a couple of days before we were due to leave. So annoying we now have this nonsense even just for a day trip to France.

And to let you know OP, I didn't vote for this, not in my name.

@workflowers but if you were going to Ireland for example, you’d be fine up until 2024.

I thought that if you were English you don’t need a passport to travel to Ireland?

Officially you just need ID. Just try telling Ryanair that - they require a passport for travel between GB and ROI

From the article: “Up until 2018, the UK government allowed for unspent time on passports to be added to the new passport when renewing, meaning some UK passports are valid for more than 10 years. This wouldn’t have mattered while the UK was in the EU, but now that it’s classed as a third country, you will be denied entry if your passport issue date was more than 10 years ago.”

and also from the article: “The EU Commission said in April 2022 that a more relaxed approach to the rules could be adopted and instead of insisting the passport needs to be less than 10 years old throughout the entire stay in the EU, it needs to be less than 10 years old at the point of entry. However, this can be down to individual countries, so it's best to check the destination’s rules before booking your trip.”

so the date that matters is 10 years from the point of issue. Then it is down to individual countries’ own rules. In France’s case, I think you will be fine going in December with a passport that will be 10 years old in May.

Officially you don't even need ID to cross the border if you're a British or Irish citizen. But you will need it for a flight, yes. And maybe for a ferry depending on the route.

Your passport is no longer valid until February 2024. On leaving the EU, the "extra" months that had been added to passports on renewal became invalid for travel to EU and your passport is only valid for 10 years from the date of issue. So for your trip to France, it is valid for travel to Feb 23 ie May 2013 issue date plus 10 years minus 3 months.

I'm old enough to remember before extra months were added, and you'd leave renewing your passport as close to the expiry date as possible!

The rules are:

1. Your passport must be less than 10 years old on the day you arrive in the Schengen area (based on the date of issue)
2. Your passport's printed expiry date must be at least 3 months after the day you leave the Schengen area.

So in OP's case the rules are that it is valid for entry to Schengen until May 23 and they must leave within 90 days of entry ie. August 23 latest.

BUT
If you are flying, some airlines and their (subcontracted) check-in staff apply stricter rules. They are wrong, but you could be refused boarding. The mildest of these is that they say you need 6 months remaining validity when you leave the UK - they are adding the 90 day maximum stay to the 3 months requirement on your return and making it 6 months - and they will blame this on border staff at the other end! You can get compensation if they don't allow you to travel when your passport meets the rules

If OP is flying, I would advise them to email customer services of the airline ASAP with the exact dates of travel and the exact dates on the passport asking them to confirm that it is valid for travel, and take the reply with you to the airport.

This is how I have interpreted the rules.

100% Brexit is a joke.

We are using the Eurotunnel not flying. I will contact them directly and ask.

It's not even Brexit (can't believe i am saying it😂) it's the gov adding the extra time on. Every other passport we have at home is 5 or 10 years exact, no extra. That's what's the issue