Due to travel on Sunday, just found out 5 year old sons passport isn’t valid due to brexit HELP

[Shinebright21]

So due to travel to France and Italy via rail from this Sunday.

Mine, my husband and daughters passport are all valid. My sons expires on 31st July and I was under the impression you can travel, until the expiry date and we are back way before then.

Do we cancel and use our insurance to claim the money back, or just risk it and go and see what happens at the border?

Feeling utterly miserable

Can you go to your nearest passport office? There's still a high chance you will be waiting weeks but fingers crossed
This has been in the news for ages so it's unfortunate you've missed it, I'm an ex travel agent, I would highly doubt your insurance will cover this as it's your duty to check documents however you can approach your tour operator and see if you can change your dates, if they permit it there will be a charge and also a charge for any difference in cost so if you swap to high season expect to pay a lot more but might be better than losing it

The fastest service for a child renewal is the 1 week service but you'd need to find a spare appointment first

I disagree that calling you disorganised is harsh. An organised person would check (and recheck) passports much earlier than this

Thank you I will try approaching our tour operator - will see what the price difference is.

Thanks for the tip, and thanks to everyone who didn’t make me feel stupid either.

Its like your online, waiting to pounce. Bit sad really.

I will be asking moderators to delete this thread.

I think the point is it doesnt help, of course shes been disorganised, people make mistakes and are not always tip top on everything.

So yes ok so shes disorganised but then what?

No, you blamed Brexit for you not having renewed the passport.

I'm sorry OP, it does look like you won't be able to travel. Can you change your dates at all?

Why do people come on to these threads with unhelpful comments like this when they haven't even done a quick Google for the actual facts? At least 2 posters so far have said passports need to be valid for 6 months.

That's not true.

OP is going to France and Italy, both require 3 months validity from the date you leave. Yes some countries require 6 months but not in this case.

But it is disorganised. I don’t think anyone is blaming you for Brexit though

Hi OP, insurance broker here! It won't be valid! Check your policy as there will be an exclusion that states this xxx

You need to book an appointment at the passport office and attend in person this week. Appointments will likely be fully booked but they do release more throughout the day if they get cancellations etc., so keep trying.

Presumably because you can only stay 3 months now in an EU country. Previously, no limits if you could fund your stay.

Think you will just have to cut your losses as unlikely to get a passport as it is super chaotic. Mine took 14 weeks and even upgrading it was a nightmare
Sorry this has happened OP it's really shit

Tbf I’m with pp I’ve been holidaying for years and thought this had always been the case and wasn’t just a new thing?!

Double check all other passports to as its ten years from start date if you have different dates and months for start and expiry.

Previously you could travel in Europe up until your expiry date.

Since brexit you need 3 months remaining on the date you leave the EU plus your passport has to be less than 10 years old on the day you travel there.

Could you drive to Newport, @Shinebright21
Before Brexshit, my passport was out of date, I saw something in Europe I wanted to buy, and needed a passport ASAP... and was able to get one in Newport.

Have sympathy, people! Or stay off Mumsnet if you've been drinking!

I don't think it's harsh, just honest. Not checking the new Brexit travel rules until now is very disorganised and a bit daft. But pointing that out doesn't really help OP. Personally, I hate travelling, there's always some kind of rule that is easily overlooked. But I am chronically disorganised so I find it very stressful trying to make sure I don't forget anything - and I usually fail!!

It's probably not a huge amount of consolation but there have been loads of posts here on MN who have made exactly the same mistake. There was one recently with a mum who was debating about whether to leave her DS behind. Lots of families seem to have forgotten about this new rule.

I would second the fast track process. I think it's hard to get appointments but someone said before that they literally sat refreshing the page first thing in the morning and jumped on a slot as soon as it became available.

If you can fastback the passport but it won't be ready by Sunday, can you push your tickets back by a couple of days? Better a shorter trip than nothing at all?

Yes this happened to us. We kept checking and got an appointment at Liverpool passport office the next day. Passport came day before we travelled. It was super stressful but we did it.

Also I used to have a job sending camera crews all over the world so an oversight like this can happen to the best of us . Take no notice of this mean lot.

this doesn’t make any sense?

Sorry you’re going through this OP. I hope you find a way to get a new passport or to postpone your trip 🤞🏾

Someone said this at work the other day, that its the issue date, not the expiry date that you need to check and I didnt know what she meant, she said she nearly got caught out on holiday due to this, but I wasnt quite paying attention

@iseeyou1234 - it means that some people who renewed their passports early have passports which have dates making them valid for more than 10 years. You can no longer use those extra 3 months at the end which you used to be able to. So if your passport was issued in May 2012, it expires May 2022, even if it says August 2022 on the passport.

In the past up to 9 months could be added to a passport. Those extra months aren't recognised for travel in the EU. On the date of travel your passport must be under 10 years old so you need to look at the issue date. It also needs to be valid for 3 months after you leave the EU so that's when you look at the expiry date

Hi OP I work in travel insurance. There is no chance of you claiming I am afraid. I’m terms of options you can look to get an emergency appointment to progress your passport or alternatively look to cut your losses- some bookings do still have flexible cancellation policies. Worth checking.

Arent you the one who blamed brexit op