To do my civic duty and say for the love of God check yours and your family’s passports weeks before you go on holiday

[iminmemamscar]

I’ve had 2 friends recently that couldn’t go on their booked holidays because of passport rules (e.g time left on passport), one of whom had got to the gate at the airport and only then was told. He thought he had 6 months left so would be fine, but if flying to the EU you need 10 years from the start date, and his passport was 10 years 6 months from the start date. Every year on MN there’s posts asking for help regarding issues like this - leading to huge amount of anxiety and, often, crushing disappointment
So please, check your passports and the passport rules of the country you’re visiting!

I'm still going to check with the other kid though

Mine runs out in August. We're away in September. I really do need to pull my finger out and sort it.

Check it when you book!!

Yep!

Can I ask what the situation is with kids passports, is ir the same principle but with 5 years. If a passport expired in August 2027 can they still travel until March 2027 then? Sorry this has always made me feel really thick 🤦‍♀️

A child passport will always be under 10 years old even with extra months added so doesnt break the rules.

Its 3 months remaining for the EU so would have to leave the EU country in May 2027 if expiry was August 2027

Unfortunately, it isn’t. Most countries require at least 3 months left on your passport and it can’t be older than 10 years in order to travel. A lot of variation country by country.

If you never leave the uk though I suppose it’s not a problem.

Not every country counts the extra months.

This issue has always been with The EU not accepting passports over 10 years old. A child passport will not fall foul of this as its always under 10 years even with added months. There shouldn't be any child passports remaining that are older than 5 years though as they stopped adding extra in 2018.

When they did the old red passports if you renewed early you would get the extra months added to the expiry date so if you applied 6 months early you would have a passport that lasts 10 years 6 months. These extra months are no longer valid when travelling to some countries so if you go off 10 years from the issue date you should be safe. If you have a newer black passport I believe these are all ok

Managed to prevent a ruined girls trip a couple of years ago. Asked for everyone's passport details to book the flights and one friend sent a picture and I realised her passport would be over 10 years old when we travelled. She had never heard of this! Tried desperately to get an emergency appointment but those things are rarer than rocking horse poop. So she just sent off the usual way and managed to get it back in time to book something.

As to why they are more than 10 years old, it used to be that you could carry over 10 months I think. I guess it was to prevent people leaving it to the last minute to renew to not waste time left on it. But they don't do it anymore, so soon the last of the old passports will be changed.

Anyway, despite knowing I have already checked, I have just been and checked ours again! My husband will need to renew before next years summer hols as will have less than 3 months left. I think I'll stick a reminder in my calendar....

At 20 I owned a house………. Can’t your adult child take responsibility for their own passport?!

For the best part of a decade…….

If you are a dual citizen you need to come to the UK with a UK passport. This also applies to children.

When you book a holiday or flight it would be helpful if when you submit the passport details it flags that it will be out of date.

I renewed mine last year and still worry it will be somehow out of date lol.

Because just checking the expiry date isn’t enough on older passports.

It’s easy to forget it can’t be more than 10 years old, and just look at the expiry date and think “yep, that’s fine”

I had this! I’d changed it when I got married and ended up with 10 years 6 months, didn’t think to check rules about start date, just expiry. I was so frustrated with myself but almost more with jet2 who let me check in online with it! I’d have thought the system should flag it wouldn’t be valid for travel.

I had an expensive day in Durham getting a one day passport because I’d missed the week postal date as well

This has been the case for years, why are so many people posting suggesting this is a new change all of a sudden?

Ok… and so what really.

Noone is suggesting its new but it's still catching people out as there are still passports that are valid for more than 10 years. If people arent aware that you can't rely on the printed expiry date then it will still happen until the last ones expire in 2028

No, there have been a number of posts over the past few weeks suggesting this is a random new rule that has suddenly come into force and there has been absolutely no press about it whatsoever.

Of course people hear about it! It’s been on and in the media for years! Endless stories of people turned away at airports. A passport is an official document, so people really shouldn’t be travelling abroad if they - or someone on their behalf - can’t manage the basics of being an adult and important documents.

Sure if it makes you feel better. Bizarre rant but ok. Where are these endless stories btw? The DM and FB?

We are travelling to Lanzarote at the end of July. My passport was issued 26/01/2017 and has an expiry date of 26/06/2027. The way I have read it is to class the expiry date as 26/01/2027 so I can only travel on it up to November 2026… (I think that’s right) 😂