Do you need 6 months Passport validity for travel to Spain?

[SarahL245]

Hi. I am so stressed. We are supposed to be going to Majorca on Friday On a weeks’s package holiday ( me, hubby, a 9 year old and soon to be 5 year old). I have just discovered that my youngests passport is two weeks short of having 6 months Validity. The rest of us are fine as we have 10 year passports. Does anyone Know whether the 6 month rule is strictly enforced or if immigration in Spain may not be bothered as we have a return flight in a week booked and he is only just short of the 6 months? I’d be so grateful for any advice or comments. Thank you!

I’ve spoken with EasyJet several times and they have said they will follow the destination government requirements…..one person on their live chat said as everything is changing so frequently they just follow guidelines and they said that there was some flexibility from countries about expiry dates as everyone knows there have been issues surrounding passports and renewal delays…..we are travelling to Spain and they (Spanish government) definitely say passport needs to be valid for 3 months from the date you exit Spain…..we have already checked in online and that was fine…..got to say I’m nervous as there is a lot of conflicting info…..we go on Tuesday so fingers crossed - won’t be happy until we are in the air!

I spoken to Spain embassy and they have informed me that it's 3 months expiry

Ridethekraken Would it be possible to let me know how you get on please

I'd suggest to use IATA travel centre website, it checks in Timatic database used by airlines to check the documents.

I’ve checked on the IATA page and that says all good…..everywhere I am reading it seems to be ok for kids passports as long as over 3 months left upon return

PompyBlade - yes I’ll update next week (Tuesday) as I think there are a lot of people in the same situation

Ridethekraken many thanks just for piece of mind.

How disgraceful that our government haven’t got this information published for people to understand. The Spanish government indeed states 3 months. My mother had 5 1/2 months on her passport and chose not to come on holiday due to the uk government guidelines

No problems checking in…..all the way through to the gate…..when my son tried to board at the gate it flagged up ‘unable to board’ - they checked the passport and then let him on…..!

G&T time 😜

Ridethekraken that’s great news when does his passport expire

I go on Thursday I hope Ryanair let me board with my little girl, she doesn’t have 6 months on her passport either.

Annalb88, can you let us know how you get on please? We fly on the 26th with Ryanair. Where are you going?

Yeh sure, we’re going to Spain. She’ll still have the 3 months left required for the date we’re due to leave. Just hoping the pcr test results come back in time 😬

Passport expiry is 19/12/21
I’m sure that it flagged up as under 6 months but when she checked it was over 3 months…..

Many thanks what airline was that

EasyJet - Gatwick to Malaga
We are out the other end in Spain - no problems - everyone more concerned with all the Fit to Fly/Vaccine/QR paperwork - not one question about a passport with 4 months validity.
A lot of worrying but in the end EasyJet we’re fine as they said before - they follow the destination entry rules - and that is 3 months validity from date of departure from Spain.

Many thanks enjoy your holo

@RideTheKraken hi, did nothing flag up when you filled in the Spanish health forms before travel? I'm due to fly Saturday and have just been informed of the brexit change and it affecting passport expiry dates. Mine has changed from 7 August 2022 to 7 December 2021 taking me under the 6 months. I'm stressed to the max not sure what to do 😞

Hiya - I was dealing with my sons (a child passport) but the same applies for an adult passport - yours will still be valid as long as you return before 7th September (3 months prior to expiry).

At no point during any form filling or booking did anything flag up. The only time we saw anything was at the boarding gate where EasyJet flag a passport under 6 months validity then just check your flight details.

The Spanish only require 3 months validity from your return flight.

Anyone who says different is not correct. We arrived today with 4 months left on the passport. We were very worried prior to travel, as I know many of this forum are, but the facts are that the Spanish requirements are clear - there was confusion from the UK over this but the airlines seem to know this now.

All the issues I saw today were related to Covid paperwork…..as long as your passport has 3 months validity from your return flight you will be fine.

Hope that helps…..happy holidays!

@RideTheKraken thanks for that! Yes your right I went back to Hays Travel this morning who confirmed with Jet 2 that as my passport is valid for just over 3 months from the date we depart back to the UK and falls within the 10years of issue date that yes I am allowed to travel, in accordance with both Jet2 guidance and the FCO advice on gov.uk site which states 3 months validity needed now not 6, so long as it falls within the 10years.
I still won't be able to relax until I am on that plane drink in hand haha have a fab holiday x

@Moonshine86 the gov site has updated its guidance to state 3 months validity from date of return to UK needed within the 10yrs of passport issue date to travel to Spain x

So we were fine with my daughters passport on Ryanair, they scanned the boarding pass and passport at the boarding gate then went straight on.

Annalb88 that’s great news, maybe I can stop fretting so much now! Enjoy your holiday x

@Annalb88 that’s great news, it means I can stop fretting so much now! Enjoy your holiday x

Were on way to airport now, I have just under 4 months left on my passport. Keeping everything crossed I manage to get on the plane 🤞

We go on holiday next year and I've just realised my passport expires 3 months exactly from the date we return home. Is this going to be ok? I know i have plenty of time to sort it but it was meant to be a cheap and cheerful get away!