Passport validity 3 months

[boatgirl81]

My daughter's passport runs out on 4th July. Am I safe to book a canaries holiday at Easter? As long as we are back in the country before the 4th of April? Anything I am missing?

The expiry date issue is correct - as long as there are 3 months' validity the passport fulfills one of the two passport requirements.

But - you also need to check the passport issue date which must be within 10 years of the date of departure from the UK.

Entry requirements - Spain travel advice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Both conditions have to be met. As you have 3 months to get organised, why not just apply now for a new passport?

A child's passport will always meet the criteria of being under 10 years old as they are only valid for 5 years. Even with extra months added they would be under 10 years old on the date of travel.

And yes you just need to ensure that there are 3 months remaining on the passport on the day you return to the UK

I am happy to get the passport sorted now but just feel a bit miffed that basically we need to lose 6 months by renewing early and it's only 5 years to start with.

I wouldn't renew early if you can time your trip wisely

We were originally looking at May half term but will definitely need to renew early for that. In theory we could do the 1st week of Easter and be back in the country on Easter Sunday which is the 31st March, 4 days before the validity expires but I am quite nervous of cutting it fine.

As you realistically can't use the passport for much travel any later than April 4th (by which date you have to have left your destination and returned to the UK) you're only effectively losing 3 months by renewing now - and you have to renew anyway in the near future.

In return, you're avoiding the risk of any issues with airline staff who don't know the rules and might incorrectly refuse your daughter boarding.

We renewed a passport before Christmas; from start to finish all sorted in a week. I would personally feel much happier travelling with a new passport than one running close to its use by date

Thank you all, I have ordered new passports today, definitely don't feel comfortable cutting it fine.

Definitely a wise move getting a new passport as some airlines are insisting on 6 months. Last year I had Ryanair staff try to tell my husband in April he couldn't travel as the passport expired the same year (in Dec) which is completely wrong and I had triple checked the rules for the EU.

Thankfully I had the rules to hand and the shift manager was too tired to bother arguing!