To shout at everyont to CHECK YOUR PASSPORT ISSUE DATE!! Not the expiry date...

[FusionChefGeoff]

I used to work in travel for fucks sake.

Both DH and my passports are not valid for our upcoming holiday to France as they are issued more than 10 years ago as of last week. They are both 'in date' if you look at the expiry date - but I completely forgot / missed the fact that doesn't matter any more.

Your passport MUST be less thatn 10 years old based on the issue date for you to travel to the EU.

Luckily, I can go to Peterborough on Monday and there are appointments for a 1 day service but fuck me £450 for 2 passports.....

Thank God I checked today and not the day before we leave.

Jesus I am still shaking. Hope I can help someone else avoid a holiday disaster with this public safety warning.

I would complain to easyjet then as they were wrong to deny you boarding

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/easyjet-eu-passport-rules-flight-denied-boarding-b2691830.html

@dementedpixie is absolutely right. Many airlines don't apply the rules correctly.

It makes sense if you think of it like this. Generally a country doesn't care if you're leaving, because you won't be a burden on it if you're not there. It cares very much about who it lets in.

Technically there's no problem leaving the UK without a passport at all, but no country will accept you with a passport that's over 10 years from the date of issue because the UK says that the passport has expired, so they won't be responsible for you. No one else wants to pick up that responsibility. That's why the issue date matters for your outward trip.

The country you're visiting wants to be sure that the UK will let you back in. The UK will let you in until your passport expiry date so as long as you travel before then you'll be fine. But if there's not much of a gap between your planned return date and your passport expiry date, the country you're visiting gets twitchy, in case there are delays that mean you don't get back In time. The EU has decided that 3 months is a sufficient buffer. That's why the expiry date matters for your return trip.

Airlines are super twitchy that they might be left with the responsibility for passengers who won't be accepted anywhere, so some of then err on the side of caution and won't take you anywhere if they're not convinced you'll be able to come back.

If you Google it, easyjet have previously incorrectly denied boarding to several people who had valid passports. They are making up their own rules!

Yipppeee all the ‘I can’t belieeeeeeve anyone could beeeee so stupid’ posts are worth it for this one family holiday I have saved!

See you in Peterborough?! Another holiday saved!!

And the sleeves on baby vests can come DOWN so you don’t have to drag shitty vests through their hair after explosive nappies…

fusionchefgeoff Liverpool first thing Monday morning!

You are a life saver thank you.

Thankyou @FusionChefGeoff you made me look at mine issued 12/4 2016 expires 12/8 2026 husbands issued 12/4 2016 expires 12/7 2026 we are flying with EASYJET according to their rules we are out of date.
Will sort it out now b4 we fly. Thankyou.

No they're not. They're implementing the results of the Brexit that the UK apparently wanted.

Yes, so many people seem to think we should have all the benefits of being in the EU without being a member - it’s a bit like leaving the gym and then complaining they won’t let you in to use the rowing machine as you’ve always used it in the past…

I didn't know, I go abroad twice a year, I thought it was just expiry date

fusionchefgeoff i was at the doors of liverpool as they opened at 830. of the 20 people in the queue - 10 people were there for this reason - one poor couple had been turned away at the airport!!! so THANK YOU so much, i have my new shiny passport and can travel on Thursday. loving your work.

@capybaraforlifeyipppee!!! We are also now the proud owners of 2 shiny new passports phew

I saw yet another story about easyjet turning someone away for out of date passport that wasn't actually out of date. If you have a passport that has the extra time on it you definitely need to fight against this as that is several stories now about easyjet turning people away.

I think I'm just going to get a new one when 10 years is uo as I'm totally paranoid!

I understand the rule, but don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to consider the expiry date as….well, the date it expires. Understanding you need 3 months clear is easy to make sense of, but I can see why people get confused with 10 years from issue. It’s made the expiry date meaningless in lots of cases, which isn’t the norm for an official document.

So do I, as did the couple who got turned away at the airport, the Easyjet staff should understand it also and not be turning people away who have valid passports. Mine runs out May 26 (if looking at 10 years) and has exactly 3 months left after that. I should be able to travel in May and be ok but the airport staff really cant be trusted it seems.

My sister was unaware of this last Summer. I spotted it when she sent me a photo of her passport details. This was on a Thursday and we were flying the following Tuesday. She had to go to Liverpool for a new one. Mine was issued March 2016 so will be using it for the last time this August.

Thank you for the reminder OP.
It's too soon for me to renew, I need to do it in the autumn, so need to keep it in mind for a few months time...

My "expiry date" is an additional 9 months after 10 years from date of issue. My passport was quite new when I got married so travelled in my maiden name and used marriage certificate when necessary for a number of years. I eventually changed it when a DC needed a rewnewal and sent both passports off at the same time so my "expiry date" takes into account some of that previous eligable time prior to early renewal. I sent both passports off together because we had elderly family abroad and wanted to minimise time without access to emergency travel if required.

It's frustrating as the practical expiry is not any of the dates printed on the document. I am due to travel within 10 years of the date of issue... I'm just 2 months short of the 3 month EU margin, but 11m away from the maximum expiry printed. I could travel to family without renewing at that point, but not my holiday destination.

It's a document that spends most of its time filed away with little attention to calculating dates where conditions have changed since its date of issue.
I'm not surprised that people get caught out.

Really? It's just the rules applied to all non EU passport holders. Not difficult at all.

Tough titty.

I thought you were fine though as long as the 3 months left is within expiry date, the travelling dates need to be within 10 years of issue date. The 3 months left just have to be before expiry date, or are there some countries that dont accept this at all?

How are you not in date?

Are you travelling next year or something?

Thankyou ** you made me look at mine issued 12/4 2016 expires 12/8 2026 husbands issued 12/4 2016 expires 12/7 2026 we are flying with EASYJET according to their rules we are out of date.
Will sort it out now b4 we fly. Thankyou.
‐---
For entry to the EU you'd need to travel by 12/4/2026 (as that's 10 years after issue date). You look at expiry date to calculate the 3 months remaining

Your dh would need to have left the EU by 12/4/26 to allow 3 months to be remaining on his passport

@Thedogscollar when are you travelling?

Thing that strikes me is that the length of your passport will shorten.

I renewed mine last year but it didn’t expire till October but now it will expire in May 2034

@suburburban they no longer add extra months from the old passport so the new one will be valid for 10 years exactly from the date you renew it