Have to have six months left on passport?

[Lifeisontheup]

My DS is on holiday with his mates until 24/06 and we all go on holiday on 26/8. He is moving to study in Venice for a year and his passport expires in July 2014. He will be back in the UK by then but has been told he has to have 6 months left on his passport all the time he's in Italy.

Do you think we'll have time to renew it before 26/08 if we do it as soon as he comes back from this holiday.

You shouldn't need to have extra validity in the EU, but if you really want it, there should be time to renew when he comes back from holiday. I renewed my DD's passport recently using the preprinted option and check & send, and it came back within 3 weeks (that was a few days ago). The other option is to renew at the British consulate in Italy.

Who told you this re the six months validity?. Think you were given duff info there. (For some countries though this is a necessary requirement).

I would renew the passport in any case on his return from his August holiday (the Passport office will add on any remaining months left on his current passport onto his new passport).

We've always been told that even for school trips but will check with him, not sure who told him this. Good to know it should be possible to fit in before end of August though.

I would get it done after he returns from holiday on 24/06. That gives plenty of time before you all go off in August to get it back.

Use check and send. Then it's done and you won't have to worry about it while he's studying away. They add some of the unused part onto the time the new passport is valid for so you won't lose out ( I'm not sure if they add up to 6 months or 12 months but either way it's better to get it sorted.)

Make sure you write down the barcode number from the top of his application form so you can track its progress.

It's starting to get quite busy, but check & send is still only around 3 weeks.

6months only needed if traveling to places like Japan, Thailand etc. all EU countries you can travel to even on the last valid day....
It's all on government website

It might be worth checking with the Italian Embassy in London. There are slightly different rules (I think) for a stay of over 180 days.

You can renew your passport with up to 9 months' validity left and it's added on to your new passport. Will be cheaper to renew in the UK than from overseas, so best to sort it out before he goes, irrespective of the 6 months left point. Different countries can request different periods of validity, it's not as simple as inside or outside EU.

Yes should have read that better - my previous post is only valid when you are staying 3months or less. Sorry!

I recently (end may) renewed mine and applied for baby DS' first one. I sent them the normal way - form from post office and normal post - and got them both back in 6 days. I was most impressed,