less than three months on passport when returning to uk after years abroad

bd79og

Hi I'm new here so the answer I seek could be already covered but I can't find it. My son went abroad in 2020 and has apart from one trip back been abroad since then. He is due to be returning to the UK in August this year and his British passport expires in November. He has so far failed the admin needed to renew his passport from abroad and has warned the people buying his return ticket that he needs to fly direct as his passport doesn't have 3 months on it. He is in Japan. I'm worried he could be denied boarding and should try again to renew his passport. Does anyone know the rules when returning to the UK?

elsien

As far as the British government is concerned, there is no issue with its own citizens return returning with a limited time left on the passport or an expired passport as long as they can prove ID. 

Whether the carrier will allow him to board will depend on their own policies. Can he check those?

la531983

elsien said:

As far as the British government is concerned, there is no issue with its own citizens return returning with a limited time left on the passport or an expired passport as long as they can prove ID. 

Whether the carrier will allow him to travel is a different matter as they may or may not have their own policies around this. 

And in that case he may be best to use British Airways or Virgin Atlantic (assuming they still fly to Japan), both are British carriers who are more likely to allow him on imo.

bd79og

his ticket is being bought for him by the Japanese government which makes it hard to choose carrier. I asked him to make sure they know about the passport

DullGreyGuy

bd79og said:

Hi I'm new here so the answer I seek could be already covered but I can't find it. My son went abroad in 2020 and has apart from one trip back been abroad since then. He is due to be returning to the UK in August this year and his British passport expires in November. He has so far failed the admin needed to renew his passport from abroad and has warned the people buying his return ticket that he needs to fly direct as his passport doesn't have 3 months on it. He is in Japan. I'm worried he could be denied boarding and should try again to renew his passport. Does anyone know the rules when returning to the UK?

A British citizen always has the right to enter the UK, even if they dont have a passport. They can stick you in a quarantine hotel or such as per covid days but thats why when borders were almost closed citizens returning from high risk places could still enter the UK whereas a non-citizen traveling from those countries couldn't. 

The challenge therefore isnt about entering the UK but about getting to the UK. I dont know the arrangement in the UK but in the US for example if an airline flies someone there who has no right to enter the US the airline is fined and at their own expense has to carry the passenger out from the US. This gets expensive and is why airlines have T&Cs that allow them to deny you boarding to avoid fines if they dont check your eligibility. 

JAL and ANA both have direct flights and no one is going to have issues on a direct flight when the person carries an in date passport to the destination country even if it only has 3 days left. 

An indirect flight could be more problematic but even then "it depends", in most countries you transit airside so never legally enter the country and so it wouldnt be an issue. There are some countries, eg India, where you have to enter the country and then exit it again and then a short date passport could be a problem. 

UnsureAboutthis

A Brit ctizen can always ret to the uk, even without a vaid passport.

Re indirect flight - the more flight, the more portential for problems

Get direct flight - if something is cheaper than BA -  phone them, tell them the circumstances and if they agree
he can travell - get this in writing with the name and contact details of the airline rep that agreed on this. Personally, I'd phone and speak to a human at a airline and then get the confirmation in writing but I would only use a direct flight or one where there was a stopover but you do not have to get off the plane.

la531983

bd79og said:

his ticket is being bought for him by the Japanese government which makes it hard to choose carrier. I asked him to make sure they know about the passport

Is he being deported? Seems a strange arrangement.

molerat

la531983 said:

bd79og said:

his ticket is being bought for him by the Japanese government which makes it hard to choose carrier. I asked him to make sure they know about the passport

Is he being deported? Seems a strange arrangement.

If that were the case I doubt a short dated or in fact any passport would be of concern.  I suspect OP just means the ticket is being bought by a third party and they are making the travel arrangements.

bd79og

he is in Japan on the JET programe (stands for Japanese Exchange Teacher) which is run by the government and they organize and pay for his flight when he first went out and when he returns at the end of the last contract which for him is August

jimi_man

Hi. 

Your route needs to be chosen carefully. As said direct is fine, no issues with the U.K.  So ANA, JAL or BA don’t present any issues. Virgin don’t fly there. Cathay Pacific route through HKG - again no problem as long as there is a month left. Routing through the Middle East (UAE and Qatar which covers Etihad, Emirates and QR) is more problematic as they require three months validity to transit. China, Thailand all require six months validity to transit. The USA doesn’t have ‘transit passengers’) so you have to enter which needs six months. 

Routing through Seoul (Korean Air) is a possibility as they just require validity after the date you leave.