Passport expiry

eskbanker

whatsyourfavouritecheese said:

Grahmb65 said:

I'll come back to this post in a few weeks to report how I got on at the airport check in.

How did you get on? I've just come to this forum as I've found the gov.uk advice pretty unhelpful. My passport is valid until April 2024 but was issued in July 2023. I wasn't worried as all my planned travel is to the middle east which doesn't have a 10yr rule, but I've been asked to go to France in a couple of weeks with work and don't want to be left embarrassingly stranded at checkin...

Anecdotal tales of experiences with individual airline/border officials aren't really going to help either way round tbh, so best to rely on the clearly-defined rules for the EU, as posted on the first page....

Grahmb65

• I am pleased to report that I had no problem with my passport at check-in and went on to have a good holiday to Spain.

  I cannot express enough the worry and stress this “Post Brexit Passport Validity” issue caused me in the two weeks before my holiday. It is about time the government clarified the issue once and for all.

  There is a lot of misinformation on the internet and it is not only me that is confused about it as some of the different comments on this post has shown.

  The gov.uk/foreign.travel.advice needs updating. The last sentence “extra months may have been added to its expiry date” needs to be removed or an explanation why this matters.

  Even on The Money Saving Expert website there is the following paragraph;

  • Extra months on your passport that bring its validity to over 10 years won't count. If you renewed a 10-year adult passport before it expired, extra months may have been added to your new passport's expiry date, making it valid for more than 10 years. But these months WON'T count towards the six months you need left on your passport from your date of arrival.

  Which is completely wrong and should be removed.

  I nearly cancelled my holiday. I had to rearrange my first week’s accommodation booking so I would not have to pay the full cost if I got denied boarding and I ended up having to book some of my accommodation at the airport while waiting to board which was stressful and costly.

  Thank God I couldn’t get an appointment at the Passport Office for the "24 hours renewed passport Service" which would have cost me £195 plus about £100 travel costs. Which would have been all for nothing as my passport was valid all along.

  As stated in previous comments on this post, it is the expiry date shown on the passport that counts.That is when the passport expires, no matter what.

eskbanker

Grahmb65 said:
I cannot express enough the worry and stress this “Post Brexit Passport Validity” issue caused me in the two weeks before my holiday. It is about time the government clarified the issue once and for all.

There is a lot of misinformation on the internet and it is not only me that is confused about it as some of the different comments on this post has shown.

The gov.uk/foreign.travel.advice needs updating. The last sentence “extra months may have been added to its expiry date” needs to be removed or an explanation why this matters.

It would appear to be true that there are 2019 pre-Brexit pages still present on gov.uk that include that wording, but that was before all the arrangements were agreed, so they can't be relied on (and yes, ought to be removed, or at least flagged as superseded). https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/entry-requirements clearly correctly echoes the definitive EU data shared earlier on this thread:

Your passport must be:

• issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the ‘date of issue’)
• valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

Grahmb65 said:

Even on The Money Saving Expert website there is the following paragraph;

• Extra months on your passport that bring its validity to over 10 years won't count. If you renewed a 10-year adult passport before it expired, extra months may have been added to your new passport's expiry date, making it valid for more than 10 years. But these months WON'T count towards the six months you need left on your passport from your date of arrival.

Which is completely wrong and should be removed.

Like with the old pages on gov.uk, you appear to have quoted that from an old news article in January 2019, long before post-Brexit arrangements were agreed and finalised.  The current guidance at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/passport-renewal/ is correct, and aligned with the EU and gov.uk pages:

- Less than 10 years old on the day you enter.
- Valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave.

Grahmb65 said:
As stated in previous comments on this post, it is the expiry date shown on the passport that counts.That is when the passport expires, no matter what.

But it's clear from all the quotes from the current authoritative and definitive sites that there are two separate checks, one of which relates to the issue date and the other uses the expiry date.  If you re-read all the posts on the first page of this thread, this was patiently explained multiple times!

katejo

Grahmb65 said:

• I am pleased to report that I had no problem with my passport at check-in and went on to have a good holiday to Spain.

  I cannot express enough the worry and stress this “Post Brexit Passport Validity” issue caused me in the two weeks before my holiday. It is about time the government clarified the issue once and for all.

  There is a lot of misinformation on the internet and it is not only me that is confused about it as some of the different comments on this post has shown.

  The gov.uk/foreign.travel.advice needs updating. The last sentence “extra months may have been added to its expiry date” needs to be removed or an explanation why this matters.

  Even on The Money Saving Expert website there is the following paragraph;

  • Extra months on your passport that bring its validity to over 10 years won't count. If you renewed a 10-year adult passport before it expired, extra months may have been added to your new passport's expiry date, making it valid for more than 10 years. But these months WON'T count towards the six months you need left on your passport from your date of arrival.

  Which is completely wrong and should be removed.

  I nearly cancelled my holiday. I had to rearrange my first week’s accommodation booking so I would not have to pay the full cost if I got denied boarding and I ended up having to book some of my accommodation at the airport while waiting to board which was stressful and costly.

  Thank God I couldn’t get an appointment at the Passport Office for the "24 hours renewed passport Service" which would have cost me £195 plus about £100 travel costs. Which would have been all for nothing as my passport was valid all along.

  As stated in previous comments on this post, it is the expiry date shown on the passport that counts.That is when the passport expires, no matter what.

Yes that quoted paragraph from MSE was 'correct' in 2018-2019 but no longer is. I have read this week that some countries (Romania was given as an example) are still insisting on a full 6 months validity after the end of a trip not just 3 months because they suspect that tourists will outstay their welcome/declared date of return. 

eskbanker

katejo said:
I have read this week that some countries (Romania was given as an example) are still insisting on a full 6 months validity after the end of a trip not just 3 months because they suspect that tourists will outstay their welcome/declared date of return. 

Seems to me that the main reason for OP's confusion was failing to differentiate between current definitive guidance and obsolete speculative opinions, so, given that https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/romania/entry-requirements indicates the standard three months remaining validity, are there any authoritative sources reporting a change or is it just anecdotal stuff?

katejo

eskbanker said:

katejo said:
I have read this week that some countries (Romania was given as an example) are still insisting on a full 6 months validity after the end of a trip not just 3 months because they suspect that tourists will outstay their welcome/declared date of return. 

Seems to me that the main reason for OP's confusion was failing to differentiate between current definitive guidance and obsolete speculative opinions, so, given that https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/romania/entry-requirements indicates the standard three months remaining validity, are there any authoritative sources reporting a change or is it just anecdotal stuff?

The example which I saw was just anecdotal.

tightauldgit

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80025090#Comment_80025090

While generally 'authoritative sources' are the go-to and should be what people refer to it is worth remembering that when it comes to dealing with immigration officers they generally have some level of discretion on how they apply the rules and if they have a reason to suspect that you may be planning to break immigration rules they can still deny you entry even if your documentation is in order.

Airlines are a different kettle of fish and shouldn't deny you boarding unless they can show that you're not in compliance with the published rules.

whatsyourfavouritecheese

Grahmb65 said:

I'll come back to this post in a few weeks to report how I got on at the airport check in.

Did you have any trouble gettingthrough?

eskbanker

whatsyourfavouritecheese said:

Grahmb65 said:

I'll come back to this post in a few weeks to report how I got on at the airport check in.

Did you have any trouble gettingthrough?

OP already answered that the last time you asked!  See their post further up this page on 28 April....

Bodcab

Except if you're traveling from UK to Republic of Ireland, in this case the issue date dosen't apply only the expiry date dose with Ryanair. This was confirmed to me by Ryanair as Ireland is excluded from the issue date rules as they are not a Shengen member and UK and Ireland have an agreement that they both are in the common traffic area. Martin Lewis needs to confirm this as it's still very confusing.