Passport Question

[Janek]

I'm travelling to Ghent on 09.01.2026, returning home 11.01.2026

My passport was issued on 11.03.2016
It expires 11.11.2026

It will be less than ten years old when I enter the EU
It will have more than three months left when I leave the EU

It's valid, isn't it? I don't need to replace it before I travel.

Yes, according to this it seems you’re ok.
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belgium/entry-requirements

I think the expiry date is 11/3/2026?
The extra 6 months are not valid for EU entry?

Ignore my reply - it looks as if it’s fine

@padronpepperyou've summed up the whole dilemma in two posts!!!

It just makes me so cross because I renewed this passport in good faith, only for the rules to change during it's validity. The same thing happened with DD's five year passport five years ago - I lost fifteen months on it (although at that time the info on the government website was incorrect). I am being punished for being organised and renewing things in good time!!!

Thank you both for confirming. @Friolerothere is an extra sentence about the expiry date not needing to be within ten years in that link that really reassures me.

On the date of entry into EU it needs to be under 10 years old - look at issue date and add 10 years (11/03/2026) ✔️

On the date you leave the EU it needs to have 3 months remaining - look at expiry date (11/11/2026) ✔️

Your passport is valid for your travels

Ooh, this is interesting, as the vibe I have been picking up is that it needed 3 months left when you return, but reading the date as if it expires 10 years after it was issued (ie, in my case 5 months before it says it expires)

Mine is similar to you - I renewed 9 years ago, as we were encouraged to, in good faith that it would run for 10 years from the original expiry date.

It does run for 10 years (most burgundy UK passports run for 10 years and a few months). But that's notional, and each country/bloc can decide how much of that to accept. For some countries you need 6 months validity after the intended day of exit, while for the US or Canada you can use it up to the expiry date. That's just how "other countries" work — the UK doesn't get to dictate passport validity rules for them, and vice versa.

@samarrange I think that @CarpetKnees thought it meant that the 3 months remaining needed to be within the 10 years you calculate from the issue date. The 3 months remaining can be calculated from the printed expiry even when extra months have been added.

The only time the 10 year rule matters is when entering the EU and at that point the passport needs to be under 10 years old.

Yes, I did. Thanks @dementedpixie

There's so much rubbish posted about passports and even said by people who should know better - my passport dates are almost identical to the OPs in that I cannot use it after early next year to enter the EU, but it doesn't expire until later next year so will still be absolutely fine until the expiry date for many other countries that I could travel to, including the US, Canada and Mexico.

But just last week a border guard when entering the UK told me that my passport expired in March, which it doesn't. It expires in November, but I cannot use it to enter the EU after March, which is not the same.

I think that a lot of people, some border guards included (seeing @Bjorkdidit's post above) cannot get their heads around there being two rules, one based on the issue date and one based on the expiry date. I read a story about someone being denied entry into Norway (which applies the Schengen rules) for a week because their UK passport was 9 years and 10 months old even though it had 6 months to run.

Sadly, the failure of staff to apply rules correctly (because they are too complicated for the level of training that they received/bothered to pay attention to) is a problem of modern life across more areas than just travel.

One nice thing about the forthcoming EES is that for people using kiosks (which will be most places, although kiosks are not required), the beep/boop decision about the validity of your passport will be made by the kiosk, which will presumably be less prone to error when counting months and days.

I've just gone through passport control. No one batted an eye at my passport, I'm relieved to tell you. It seems the border guards know the rules, at St Pancras, at least!