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!

HMPO doesn't send passport renewal reminders or general texts to people about issues such as this. There are over 45 million people holding UK passports so contacting everyone would be expensive and unrealistic. Instead all of the information regarding passport validity for various countries is clearly spelled out on the Gov.uk website, and travel companies almost all have reminders (and some even have vaildity calculators) on their websites - see for example Jet2.

There have been countless stories in the media over the last 5 years of people not understanding the rules and being prevented from travelling, and the topic comes up on MN threads similar to this one almost weekly - see the 5 threads listed below under "Similar threads" to see the most recent ones.

Actually, if you go looking for it & find it, leave it where it was because you'll find it again - it's when you move it that you have a problem because it won't be where you expect it to be! And if you put it in your suitcase & then check in the case without removing it...

Boggles my mind that people don’t check their passports before booking a holiday. Honestly it’s holiday booking 101. I can tell you the exact date mine and DHs expire, probably because I checked them before booking, and every single day since we booked our holiday.

Anyway, for anyone not sure, stick your details into this.
passport-checker.travelcdn.co.uk/pat/pat/

No thats not right. You travel dste please to be within 10 years of the start date however expiry (so the 3 months left required to travel to most EU places) has to be within the expiry date. Its 2 different parts to the rules.

So you can travel up to Jan 27

That’s not true. My stepson’s passport was denied at a boarding gate to go skiing in France. He was under 12 at the time. The rules are for everyone.

I assume though that he had less than 3 months left on his passport? That rule applies for all but the passport could not have been valid for more than 5 years as all child passports are only issued for 5 years.

Put the renewal date for your passports and driving licence in your online calendar (dated 6m before end date) so you remember to do it. I've done this for years.

Omg i know! Who doesn’t know this rule yet?

I have just panicked and checked mine, I knew they were all ok by the expiry date but not the issued date. As it happens, they all were issued on the same expiry date ie 28 June 2019 - 28 June 2029. Do all good! Phew.

I can confirm that due to this advice I have not been caught out without a valid passport in 15 years! Its fail safe!

I can’t believe people are still unaware of this.

🤣.

It’s a curse being so clever isn’t it? 😂😂

Note new rules if you or your child have dual citizenship.

You/your child need to travel on a UK passport now. You must enter UK on a British passport. No exceptions.

There are exemptions, Irish passports are exempt and you can return to the UK on an Irish passport.

Fair enough - a mum was in trouble this weekend in Heathrow with border police as she hadn't UK passports for her dual citizenship children. She was used to travel on their EU passports and had no clue about new rules.

We got all 3 kids British passports this year. Expensive and wouldn't have been a thing a few years ago. It was fine with EU passports.

Mate, people have no idea what a burden it is!

😂😂😂

This is actually how my other friend got caught out. Lived in the uk all his life but only has an eu passport. Booked a holiday and now can’t go - luckily he realised in time to sell the holiday and get some money back

I'm with you - there has been so much news about it and people still have their stories told as though it's a new thing, same with having a tear in their passport and acting shocked that they can't get on the plane (new story). I believe there there is site online where you can put in your passport details and destination and it will inform you if it's still valid.

Luckily, I don't need a passport for Cornwall. Yet.

I have just booked a trip for next year and checked my passport date despite being able to tell you off the top of my head. I also booked Insurance at the same time. This thread did inspire me to check the date on my currency card though and I realised that they never sent a new one when my last one expired (they say they did but I admit I did not activate it) so thank you op.

I've been doing this hack for a decade now ( since having twins and their dad fucking off) and can vouch it's highly effective 🤣

#op thanks so much!!!!! I thought mine was ok with 7 months left, read this, checked, and no it's not! I've now got an appointment at the passport office and 1 week fast track. I travel in 3 weeks time and would absolutely have been caught out!

I’m panicking and have got myself so confused.
we fly to Majorca on August 13th, my issue date is 20th June 2017, expiry 20th June 2027. I’m fine aren’t I? Im
paranoid!

Yes youre fine @dicdicnurse . Your passport hasnt got extra months added so youre just looking at the printed expiry date for age of passport and calculating 3 months remaining

Thank you