Passport validity for travel to Europe from 1st Jan 2021 - months 'stolen' Answers needed!!!

Clare0363

Hi, after checking my passport (just out of interest) on gov.uk/checkpassport it states " Your passport is valid for travel to Europe until 15 August 2027" 
The expiry date shown on my passport is 15 August 2028 so it's validity is coming up as 12 months less
I know 6 months of that is because I need 6 months left on my passport to travel to most countries after 31/12/2020 but the other 6 months are what were remaining on my passport when I renewed it and were added to my new one (Shown on my passport as Date of issue 15 Feb 18 Date of expiry 15 Aug 2028)
My renewal occurred before they changed the rules re carrying over (in my case 6 months) unexpired months on 10th September 2018 yet it seems they have made another change without informing anyone and no longer count those unexpired months which were added to my passport prior to the change of rules
Unless the online checker is not set up to take this into account?
The Passport Office/Government need to clarify whether or not months are being 'stolen' from our passports (as seems to be the case) or there is an error as many many people are going to get caught out and of course, lose money!
Check your passports folks and please post your findings -  I for one need answers!

bagand96

A thread on the same subject last week https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6198279/passport-renewal-rules-don-t-renew-too-early-unless-you-have-to/p1

The UK was quite unique in adding extra validity to passports over 10 years. Most countries I my issue a passport for 10 years.  It is not the Government that are "stealing" the months, it's that the online checker is showing you the worst case scenario, that a foreign country may only accept a passport upto it's 10 year validity, and not recognise any validity after that. 

You would have to check the situation and entry requirements for any countries you wish to travel to as you approach the end of your passports validity. 

k3lvc

@clare0363 exactly how much money is being 'stolen' from you ? I'm sure someone will come along with an answer re the years difference but given two slightly important events that are happening at the moment I suspect the potential loss of £9.50 from each passport holder in 8/9 years time isn't high up UK.GOV's list of priorities.

Hopefully they'll understand your 'need for answers' and start a public enquiry

Clare0363

The loss of money is not my biggest concern (although across millions of passports it would be a substantial amount) it's people being denied entry to the country they are travelling to because unbeknownst to them, the expiry date printed on their passports is invalid. If I hadn't checked out of curiosity (there was no reason for me to check) then come say, Jan 2028 I would have got to my chosen European country thinking/believing I had the required 6 months + left on my passport for entry and been denied because they don't count the 'carried over' unexpired months so my passport would only have 1 month left on it which would be unjust. 

TELLIT01

I take your point Clare0363 but the reality is that you wouldn't have been allowed to board in the UK if you passport wasn't acceptable to the receiving country.  There was quite a lot in the press at the time of the change but understandable that many people wouldn't have been aware.  I have no idea if the Passport Office plans to send our information to passport holders when the 10 years expiry date is approaching.

Clare0363

I was aware of the change and because my unexpired months had already been added to my new 10 year passport 7 months prior to the change (making it valid for 10 years and six months) thought no more of it. However. I found out today that even though it is printed on my passport that it is valid for 10 years 6 months it is not according to the online checker. 

k3lvc

But the online checker has no legal standing vs your passport with a printed date in it. I’m sure within the next 8 years the situation will have been resolved 

TELLIT01

k3lvc said:

But the online checker has no legal standing vs your passport with a printed date in it. I’m sure within the next 8 years the situation will have been resolved 

In this instance, the on line checker has provided the actual date the passport expires, and the passport itself shows a validity period of 10 years 6 months.  You are suggesting that the date shown on the passport for expiry is legally binding on other countries when it is not.  Most countries now only accept 10 years from date of issue.

Sandtree

k3lvc said:

But the online checker has no legal standing vs your passport with a printed date in it. I’m sure within the next 8 years the situation will have been resolved 

Neither really have much legal standing, it ultimately comes down to the country you are visiting and their immigration/border laws. Whilst Her Majesty requests and requires that all that may be concerned allow the holder of a British passport to pass freely unfortunately others dont really care what Liz requires.

Ultimately you present your passport at the border and they will apply their local laws. As Tellit01 says, some will say there is an issue with a passport over 10 years old, I know the USA hate that the UK allows some people to have 2 UK passports, and my wife's old non-UK passport had a handwritten extension put in it as their processes used to be a 5 year initial passport and then a 5 year extension... crossing into France with that was fun!

bagand96

Clare0363 said:

I was aware of the change and because my unexpired months had already been added to my new 10 year passport 7 months prior to the change (making it valid for 10 years and six months) thought no more of it. However. I found out today that even though it is printed on my passport that it is valid for 10 years 6 months it is not according to the online checker. 

Your passport will be considered as valid by the United Kingdom Government upto the expiry date printed on it.

However, when visiting abroad, it doesn't matter what the UK Government think about your passport validity.  Every country is entitled to have it's own entry requirements, and it's their requirements that matter.  Many countries around the world only issue, and only accept, passports with 10 year validity.

The checker website isn't saying your passport expires on 15th August 2027, just that it won't be valid to travel to Europe after that date.  In the EU there was freedom of movement, so as long as you had a valid ID document you could enter and leave other countries.  We won't have that anymore, so we have to meet the entry requirements they set, which is the same for any other non-EU country.

In theory the UK Government could do a deal with the EU whereby they agree to accept UK passports inside their expiry date, regardless.  With neither party seemingly working towards a deal for anything Brexit related at the moment, I would suggest it's unlikely (and probably not high on the list of priorities anyway).

We've been used to being able to hop on a plane to Europe without even thinking about it.  But we will have to get more used to checking entry requirements for visiting Europe in the future.  But every traveler should do that anyway before travelling abroad.