Passport advice - what would you do?

[Nearlyamumoftwo]

Flying to Lanzarote a month today and realised my son's passport expires November 2026 - technically this is ok as we ar returning to the UK in July 2026 (rule is at least 3 month validity), but would your risk it??

if not - would you renew and risk the standard service which takes approx 3 weeks?

or do fast track? And if you do fast track does anyone know if the child has to accompany you??

Hi op I thinks it’s 6 months not 3 but I would definitely get it renewed now go to your local post office they will sort it all out. No point leaving it any longer. No reason why you wouldn’t get it back in time.

If it's valid for 3 months I'd just use the one you have. I'd probably have renewed if I'd noticed earlier though.

If you're sure the area you're travelling to requires at least 3 months from the date you return, then that is the rule and they're not going to just change it if they feel like it

Forgot to add link https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/entry-requirements

If you're sure it's 3 months then there's no issue?

We had to fast track, child doesn’t need to be present, we went to a passport office, it was approved the same day and arrived within two days

No, it’s 3 months if traveling to the EU.

I like this answer - and you're totally right!

For Spain your son’s passport is perfectly legal as it has more than 3 months validity so I wouldn’t worry about this at all - it will be totally fine.

It's not a risk if it is 3 months. It's not a technicality, it's the rule and is interpreted exactly as that. It's not as you are talking about if a day is inclusive of return date etc or is a month a calendar month or is it 90 days not 3 months or other marginal considerations. For EU travel for UK Citizen it is 3 months after date you leave the EU Country. You are well within that and there is no risk. As long as it is issued within last 10 years. If not, that will be an issue and you need to renew it.

I thought you couldn’t fast track a child’s British passport.

Edit

I’ve googled it, it’s same day passports you can’t do. One week is all good.

Child/applicant doesn’t have to accompany you - I did it for my 21yo daughter (autistic, at uni so not around).

I would renew it personally in case you get some jobsworth at passport control who decides they want 6m validity.

Wouldn’t that be like someone buying alcohol with ID showing they're 18, but the cashier deciding they need to be 21?

Not sure what you mean? I just meant that I did the fast track, in person application for my child, who is an adult (not a minor) but wasn’t available and wouldn’t have coped with the queueing etc. They just check the paperwork is in order for the application in front of them when you check in, not the identity of the person bringing the papers in. Anyone can take the application down. Used to take passport and visa applications for bosses in the past - so, OP can easily fast track a passport renewal if she needs/wants.

No, sorry, I was using buying alcohol to draw an analogy with your jobsworth comment - someone arbitrarily deciding it’s 6m when it’s actually 3m. I don’t think they can do that?

The passport is valid for more than 3 months after you leave the EU so it is fine and you don't need to renew it until after you return.

I'd just use the one he has, but I did mine about a month ago & from
inital online application to having the new one delivered back to me was 5 days.

just 'normal' nit fast track. I did go into the town to get a digital photos taken where you just out the code on your application.

it's about £10. Yes I could have done it free on my phone, I think, but to me it was worth the £10 for lack of hassle. & the recorded postage.

Its 3 months for the EU and she doesnt need to renew it for this holiday

I've just travelled without issues on a close-to expiry passport to an EU country. Think I had about 2 months left on it. I felt a bit nervous too but rules are rules - they can't just arbitrarily decide you need a different amount of time or where would it end? I did double check it on a couple of passport validity websites for peace of mind. Given a child's passport only lasts 5 years, once you start knocking random months off you're looking at quite a large percentage of the actual time it's valid for.

Lol - yes. Appreciate that, but have heard some horror stories, for example, of people being caught out by staff at airport making errors over the new EES, for example, when the passport has already been used and making them do it a second time and then buggering up/invalidating their passport as a result.

I’m very risk averse, as always seem to encounter the rare previously unknown rule that no one knew about that moment... so unless I had it written in writing from the visa section of the embassy website for the country I am travelling to, I’d get it renewed.

It’s the issue date that’s catching people out because they consider the passport to expire ten years after the date of issue, regardless of the printed date of expiry.

Ah, yes.

It has to have 3m left to run within the 10years counting from the date of issue. So, if it was issued In November 2016, the July date falls within that 10year period. If it was, say, renewed in May 2016 any remaining months on the old passport used to be added to the expiry date on the new one - so it might say valid until Nov 2026 but it won’t actually be valid in July because the EU doesn’t accept the extended days anymore.

@Nearlyamumoftwo you need to check the issue date?

check its not more than 10 years old. The EU doesn’t recognise anything more than 10 even if the passport says so

Relax and renew the passport after your holiday. If the rule is 3 months and you have 4 months, you have nothing to worry about.

Provided the passport was issued in November 2016… if it was earlier than that OP needs to calculate the 10 year expiry date from the date of issue, not printed date of expiry.