Would you get a new passport in these circs?

[queenofwandss]

DS passport expires 4/3/2027, and we arrive home from our hol on 4/9/2026. It will be exactly 6 months left to expiry on our departure from EU.
Would you get a new passport or risk it?

I'd probably get a new one in case the transport back got delayed. Even a short one could tip you into the next day.

It isn't the expiry date that is the issue is it the No of years from the issue date.

Yes I think you’re right. Bugger!

Ah I see- it’s a child’s passport so under 10 years old. Would you use this one then?

@queenofwandss The EU (actually the Schengen Area) requirement is that the passport has three months of validity from the expected date of leaving the Schengen Area.

As you have already stated, the expiry date on the passport is 4th March 2027 and you plan to leave the EU on 4th September 2026 - well within the 3 month requirement - so for this holiday, there is no need to renew the passport.

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 might have a date of issue that is more than 10 years ago, making it invalid for entry to the Schengen area
• 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)

Get a new one

Why? The passport is valid for six months after the planned return date, so it easily meets the requirement for it to be valid for 3 months after the return date.

Same question to @DarkForces

What IS the issue date?

A UK child's passport is only vaild for 5 years, so by definition the OP's child's passport will have been issued within the last 10 years.

Handy to have bookmarked …..

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

Because I worry about this stuff 🤷‍♀️

Its valid for (way more) than 3 months after your planned departure.
No, I wouldn't get a new passport.

This is brilliant

What for? Completely unnecessary.

What are we worrying about? Borders guards not being able to count to 6?

You only need 3 months remaining for travel to the EU.

A child passport will always meet the rule of being under 10 years old when entering the EU
You need 3 months remaing from when you leave the EU And the passport meets that requirement too

You dont need a new passport for this trip

You do not need a new passport because of the expiry date. You don't need a margin of validity beyond the 3 months margin.

However, the passport must be less than 10 years old on the day you enter the EU. Until 2018 you could get up to 9 months of unused validity from an old UK passport added on to a new one passport if you renewed it early. In this case as it's a child's passport that's not a problem, but people might read the thread in a hurry and think that the expiry date is the only issue.

Attached is the relevant section of the actual EU Regulation 2016/399, last revised 12 October 2025, which governs this. (If anyone tries to tell you different, ask them what their source is. I can guarantee that it's not the actual EU text.)