Passport question

[Hudsonheights]

I’m travelling to Menorca on 5th September for a week. Just checked my passport and it expires on 25 Feb 2026. So I’m guessing my passport will be ok for this trip as it will have five months to run? Also it was issued on 18 Oct 2015 so will just be in the ‘under ten years’ category. Or should I just fork out for a new passport now?

You need a new pasport. You need to travel home no later than 9.5 years from when it was issued to travel inside the EU.

Have you watched the most recent Martin Lewis show, exactly this issue, person was refused entry and reason was because passport was issued prior to the previous one expiring and the additional months added, might be sensible to get a new one

The law is clear.
Its under 10 years old at time of travel
And has three months left before expiry.

However some border agents get it wrong.

Passport Validity Requirements:
Spain follows Schengen area rules. Your passport must:

• have a ‘date of issue’ less than 10 years before the date you arrive – if you renewed your passport before 1 October 2018, it may have a date of issue that is more than 10 years ago
• have an ‘expiry date’ at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area (the expiry date does not need to be within 10 years of the date of issue)

You will be fine to travel on it op. I'd likely just renew it now as I'd remembered so I didn't put it in a drawer after the holiday and forget.

You need to go by issue date, I would renew now.

• have an ‘expiry date’ at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area (the expiry date does not need to be within 10 years of the date of issue)

But OPs passport expires on the 18th October 2025 so she doesn't meet this requirement. The "extra months" are no longer counted. Passports expire 10 years from the issue date.

Issue date October 2015, so ok for travel into the EU until October 2025.

Expires February 2026, so you will have more than 3 months remaining from when you leave the EU if you leave 12th September 2025.

Your passport is still valid for travel so dont need to renew it.

The 2 requirements are independent of each other. The 10 year expiry only relates to entry into the EU. You can look at the actual expiry when calculating the number of months remaining.

@CancelTheSkip this bit expressly says the expiry doesn't need to be within the 10 years you calculated. You go by the printed expiry when working out months remaining

(the expiry date does not need to be within 10 years of the date of issue)

As other posters have said, there are 2 separate checks for passport validity; one on the issue date and one on the expiry date. It looks like your passport passes both tests.

Have a great holiday, Menorca is a lovely place.

Thank you all. I’ve contacted airline and as I’ve not yet completed my API, (you can’t add this until check in which is August), I think I’m going to just get new passport now just to be safe 😉

It literally says in brackets the expiry date does not need to be within ten years of issue.

Id just renew now too op, so it's ready for any other time you want to travel after the upcoming holiday.

I renewed my ds passport recently and from the day they said they'd received it, we had the new one within 6 days. It was super fast.

You dont need to renew right away. Any extra months will no longer be added so you will lose any months left on your old passport and the new one will be valid for 10 years.

Your passport is valid for your trip as the two checks are independent of each other.

The official websites are very clear on this, yet so many people insist on posting wrong advice that you need a new passport before your holiday.

my dates are exactly the same as yours and I juts renewed my passport, areived yesterday. It took lees than a week! I posted the old one off on Monday.

You need at least 3 months ledt from the 10 year date. We want to book a holoday for August so I renewed now.

@teksquad you are wrong
You need 3 months remaining using the printed expiry date

The 10 year validity is for entry into the EU, not for leaving the EU.

Possibly. But im not risking it. The passport guy at Helsinki airport reminded me to 'get my passport renewed soon you wont be able to re-enter after 26th June' recently, my old passport was 10 years on 26th September, actual expiry date in 2026.

OP, your passport is valid for travel to and from Spain - there is so much misunderstanding and incorrect information given on this thread. Just go by the information given on the government website that someone has previously posted.

That said, I have heard of occasional cases of border authorities getting it wrong!

I'm sorry, but this is absolutely wrong.

To enter the EU the passport must:

• Be less than 10 years old on the day of entry (as measured from the date of issue)
• Be valid for 3 months after the intended return date (as measured counting back from the date of expiry)

Here (pic) is the relevant text from the literal EU Regulation (2016/399) that defines this. You can download that document yourself from here.

OP's passport does not expire on 18 October 2025. It reaches 10 years old on that date, which is not the same thing. The EU rules apply a 10 year age limit on entry, but a different limit (3 months from the expiry date) on exit. So for anyone whose passport is valid for a bit over 10 years, because time was added on for early renewal, there are two completely separate checks to do. This may be counter-intuitive, but it's how the EU rules work.

Fortunately the UK stopped adding unused time on in 2018. At the time people shouted "heartless Tory bastards" but a big reason was precisely because they saw this issue coming. By 2028 nobody will have a passport valid more than 10 years and so the only check required will be "3 months after the expected departure date". But unfortunately, a lot of people will probably think the only check is "less than 10 years on the day of entry" and still fall foul of the rules...

OP, your passport is fine, and there is no need to renew it. Spanish immigration staff are fully up to speed about the rules as, unlike those in Helsinki, they process millions of Brits per year. If Mahon is anything like Palma the validity will be checked by an e-gate (yes, despite this week's announcements, UK citizens are still using them at many EU airports), and then a bored official will add a Schengen 90-day stamp without even looking at the dates.

I had a similar issue and decided to renew. I sent off the application on Wednesday and new passport was here this morning. Problem solved.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/when-renew-passport-europe-rules-brexit-b2734160.html

https://www.tui.co.uk/passport-checker