Passport less than one month valid for Spain!!! Cancelled whole trip and lost money! Gutted

[Thefirstime]

So gutted

can’t believe I didn’t notice my son’s passport validity was less than a month.. enough for us to travel there and back but not with the 3 months required!!!

supposed to fly on Monday - now having to cancel whole trip no refund.. painful..

I spoke to the embassy and no chance..

so Annoyed with myself.. my son was looking forward to it so much..

@LuckyCharmz not sure with a 5 year old… time and money spent getting to the actual airport

I think they have tightened up with passports

Well you have 2 choices

Stay home
Or
Chance it

🤷‍♀️

The validity period after planned exit is to prevent people over staying and then not having a valid passport to return with.

personally I’d see if I could move it, pay a fee to do so,

If you had documents showing that you had been in hospital you would be fine. The rules allow for overstaying when there are extenuating circumstances (which would certainly include "I can't physically move").

As for why you can't just update the photo: The photo is also on the chip that's in the passport, and the chip technology changes over time. So it makes sense from a general security point of view for people to get a new one from time to time.

What airport are you flying from OP? That may make a difference . Friend was turned away at Manchester the other week as the 3 months were up whilst they were away.

Is it a package holiday or have you booked bits separately ? Have you looked to see if there's any possibility of going in person to a passport office to get a fast track one in the next couple of days and perhaps flying out after that ?

For UK citizens post-Brexit, being allowed into the EU is a privilege, not a right.

This is already visible in the passport rules. EU citizens can actually enter the EU with a passport (or ID card) that is expired, as long as they can convince the border officials that it's them in the photo. There are no other checks -- in particular, there are no checks that the person concerned doesn't have a criminal record. Individual member states can issue specific orders banning named individuals, but in general a French person with a "straightforward" criminal record has no problems in travelling to Spain, for example.

This is going to become a lot more complicated when ETIAS comes in, which is planned for May 2025. When you apply for an ETIAS your name is going to be looked up in a lot of databases, and there are going to be thousands of cases of "Computer says No". There are 12 million people in the UK with a criminal record; most of those are men, which means that one man in three has a conviction for something other than a motoring offence. Not all of these will be disclosable to the ETIAS process, but it's still going to catch a lot of people.

Can't you get an emergency appointment? I've had to do that in the past. Expensive but better than losing money on the trip.

The fastest service for a child is a 1 week fast track so would still miss some of the holiday. Although my dds bog standard renewal only took 8 days last month.

Maybe go to Ireland by changing tickets? No passport requirements apart from valid photo ID (which could include the nearly OOD passport) under the Common Travel Area.

Just a suggestion so you don't lose everything.

Can you get an emergency passport appt tm and when there plead your case? My friend got one back in three days - she had to collect it though

I thought they didn’t do those for kids?

No emergency option for kids - 1 week turnaround

I stand to lose a fair amount and am absolutely gutted

:/ I blame brexit

Also, I do question whether anyone has actually risked turning up at the airport - LGW and managed to travel in this situation..? I understand hefty fines 1000euros are given at border control for this type of thing, that’s if you manage to even get past BA..

does the fact that he is 5 make a difference? And we are going for 1 week only?

Airport are unlikely to let you fly. I'm pretty sure if you get turned away at the other end its not just you that gets fined, they do as well and it's not small money, it's thousands. They'll not risk that no matter how much you plead.

@Balloonhearts

I'm pretty sure if you get turned away at the other end its not just you that gets fined, they do as well and it's not small money, it's thousands.

Yep, airline may well get sanctioned. That can start with them being told to repatriate the inadmissible passenger(s) on the return flight, which can cause problems if that flight is already full, and yes, they can fined hundreds/thousands..

Companies don't like that much which is why as I mentioned in a PP management might take a dim view if ground staff don't do the passport/visa checks properly.

Yes it's a one week emergency but they are doing them really fast atm. Worth a go?

Personally I'd see if you can get a Saturday appt first thing

When you get there explain the situation and beg

You never know

You need a new passport anyway so it's only an extra £70 or so

I blame people scared of being tracked!! Would be a lot simpler to get everyone finger printed at birth and then have a life long document for the developed world. No need for an up to date picture just scan your finger.

Can you move the dates OP? Check your bank insurance ours cover denied travel

Can’t move the dates unfortunately have checked..

I stand to loose money

am contacting the hotel
to see if by any chance and a gesture of good will they will refund us..

I'd risk it. You're in this deep with the money spent.

Did you chance it, OP?

No never chanced it :/