Passport renewal rules - Don’t renew too early unless you have to!

lynnbenton2001

My husband and I have recently applied to renew our passports which were due to expire on 18 October 2020. Our last passports were issued on 18 August 2010 with the 10 year period starting from 18 October 2010. My husband’s passport has just come back, not valid from 18 October 2020, however, as we were expecting, but from 28 September 2020, so effectively he has lost three weeks. I thought that they had taken the 2010 issue date by mistake so contacted HMPO, but this is the reply we received .....
“Thank you for your email about the validity of your new passport.
From the 10th September 2018 HMPO has no longer added additional validity to any of their passports and all passports issued from this date default to a maximum 10 years validity for adult applications and 5 years validity for child applications.
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) best practice recommends that the passport is valid for up to 10 years for adults, so UK passports align with ICAO best practice.”

We were unaware of these new rules, so my advice is not to renew your passport until it expires, unless you have to!

bagand96

It was fairly well publicised at the time it changed. I believe the UK was very much in the minority by adding validity upto 9 months. Most countries only issue a passport valid for 10 years, so in a way, we were falling into line. 

Be careful leaving it late to renew. Some countries require 3 or 6 month validity on a passport, and that could be the case for visiting Europe from next year.

TELLIT01

As the response from the Passport Office explains, additional time has not been added to passports for over 2 years.  Even passports which have had the 'extension' added to the expiry date may not be accepted in the EU during that extension period any more.  For example, a passport renewed on 1st August 2011 extended to 1st January 2022 may only be accepted up to 1st August 2021.

IvanOpinion

Mickey666 said:
The loss of three weeks off a 10-year passport is hardly a big deal.  

Less than 50p by my calculations

jonesMUFCforever

That's nothing - mine expires in November 2021 but was issued in March 2011 - so I will lose 6 full months
.

lynnbenton2001

Hi JonesMUFCforever.
Glad for those few who were aware but that really sucks and is why I am just trying to warn people who may not be aware of the changes. We have lived in Spain for the last three years so these rules had passed us by and none of my friends here were aware. 

I agree that the amount in our case is negligible, although I think you need to redo the maths IvanOpinion! Just over £5 but just add up all those extras paid by several million people and it’s a nice little earner for the government!

bagand96

lynnbenton2001 said:

Hi JonesMUFCforever.
Glad for those few who were aware but that really sucks and is why I am just trying to warn people who may not be aware of the changes. We have lived in Spain for the last three years so these rules had passed us by and none of my friends here were aware. 

I agree that the amount in our case is negligible, although I think you need to redo the maths IvanOpinion! Just over £5 but just add up all those extras paid by several million people and it’s a nice little earner for the government!

It’s not something that’s been cooked up by HM Government to bring in cash. It’s something that’s been done to bring us into line with International standards, and also partly  in preparation for Brexit. 

As @TELLIT01 said, there is a small chance that passports already issued may not be accepted in some countries after a 10 year validity, regardless of the expiry date printed. It’s unlikely, but enough of a risk that they decided to make this change. 

bradders1983

lynnbenton2001 said:

Hi JonesMUFCforever.
Glad for those few who were aware but that really sucks and is why I am just trying to warn people who may not be aware of the changes. We have lived in Spain for the last three years so these rules had passed us by and none of my friends here were aware. 

I agree that the amount in our case is negligible, although I think you need to redo the maths IvanOpinion! Just over £5 but just add up all those extras paid by several million people and it’s a nice little earner for the government!

His maths is correct 

Assuming you paid £80 originally thats £8 a year or 2.2p per day.

2.2p x 21 = 46p.

Please tell us how you work out its a fiver.

Pollycat

46p is almost 1/10th of £5.00.

I think the OP has maybe worked it out on 1 year instead of 10 years...

roddydogs

Its all brexits fault.

Roger1

Mickey666 said:

The loss of three weeks off a 10-year passport is hardly a big deal. 

... except if you were relying on it for travel, when it could be a very big deal indeed!