Tyrone Shoelaces Posted Thursday at 17:09 Posted Thursday at 17:09 (edited) Just a word to all who have a British passports. My wife and I are due to go away at the end of the month. We were filling out our boarding passes on line when my wife noticed what she thought was a problem with my passport, Although the date of expiry was the 3rd of June 2026, the ten year anniversary of the passport being issued was the 3rd of September 2025. That is a couple of days before we are due to return to the UK. This was because back then if you renewed your passport early they tacked on the extra months onto your new passport. Since Brexit this no longer applies ! I looked at the ABTA advice on the internet and it said if your passport is valid when you enter an EU country it’s OK as long as you have at least 3 months left on it when you come back. I looked on a UK government site and it said more or less the same thing. I thought I was in the clear. However I thought I’ll just check. So I went to my local “ Hays “ travel agency - the girl says - I think you need a new passport but I’m not an expert, see the Post Office. So I go to my Post Office - the girl says - yes, you need a new passport ! So today I’ve been over to Liverpool to sort out an emergency passport for twice the price of an ordinary one ! The woman at the passport office counter said - I definitely needed a new passport. Everbody out there beware of this anomaly. Edited Thursday at 17:11 by Tyrone Shoelaces Quote
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wilsdenrover Posted Thursday at 19:56 Posted Thursday at 19:56 (edited) 3 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said: Just a word to all who have a British passports. My wife and I are due to go away at the end of the month. We were filling out our boarding passes on line when my wife noticed what she thought was a problem with my passport, Although the date of expiry was the 3rd of June 2026, the ten year anniversary of the passport being issued was the 3rd of September 2025. That is a couple of days before we are due to return to the UK. This was because back then if you renewed your passport early they tacked on the extra months onto your new passport. Since Brexit this no longer applies ! I looked at the ABTA advice on the internet and it said if your passport is valid when you enter an EU country it’s OK as long as you have at least 3 months left on it when you come back. I looked on a UK government site and it said more or less the same thing. I thought I was in the clear. However I thought I’ll just check. So I went to my local “ Hays “ travel agency - the girl says - I think you need a new passport but I’m not an expert, see the Post Office. So I go to my Post Office - the girl says - yes, you need a new passport ! So today I’ve been over to Liverpool to sort out an emergency passport for twice the price of an ordinary one ! The woman at the passport office counter said - I definitely needed a new passport. Everbody out there beware of this anomaly. I thought the rule was: * Has to be issued within 10 years of your arrival in the EU. * Has to be valid for 3 months after you’re departing the EU. Your original passport meets both of those criteria. I presume I’m more likely to be wrong than the actual passport office but you never know!! edited to add: Despite what you were told in the Post Office, their website says the same as I thought: https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/guides/uk-passport-validity-checker From the above link: I can’t find anything elsewhere which disagrees with what I thought (makes a nice change!) but can find plenty of further websites which agree. Might be worth you making further investigations in case you can get some of the money you paid back?? Edited Thursday at 20:18 by wilsdenrover Quote
wilsdenrover Posted Thursday at 21:16 Posted Thursday at 21:16 (edited) @Tyrone Shoelaces I’ve done some further digging. The following is from the European Commison’s ‘ Practical Handbook For Border Guards’: Edited Thursday at 21:25 by wilsdenrover Quote
Tyrone Shoelaces Posted Thursday at 21:57 Author Posted Thursday at 21:57 That was my thinking as well. I went on the TUI passport checker ( I’m not going with TUI ) and put all my details in and it said I was good to go. It really is a confusing situation. I couldn’t take a chance though because the staff at the desk could still turn me away. Quote
wilsdenrover Posted Thursday at 23:08 Posted Thursday at 23:08 1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said: That was my thinking as well. I went on the TUI passport checker ( I’m not going with TUI ) and put all my details in and it said I was good to go. It really is a confusing situation. I couldn’t take a chance though because the staff at the desk could still turn me away. I understand that. Personally I’d complain to the passport office but you might not think it’s worth the bother. 1 Quote
Upside Down Posted Friday at 02:08 Posted Friday at 02:08 Not being allowed back into England? Sounds like a dream come true. Quote
only2garners Posted Friday at 20:21 Posted Friday at 20:21 The internet is littered with travel professionals who have got this wrong and denied boarding to people like yourself Tyrone. Simon Calder has been banging on about this ever since Brexit brought it in. You had no need to renew for this trip and could have got compensation for not being allowed to fly if you had. Although you might well not have wanted that! Quote
Tyrone Shoelaces Posted 19 hours ago Author Posted 19 hours ago 23 hours ago, only2garners said: The internet is littered with travel professionals who have got this wrong and denied boarding to people like yourself Tyrone. Simon Calder has been banging on about this ever since Brexit brought it in. You had no need to renew for this trip and could have got compensation for not being allowed to fly if you had. Although you might well not have wanted that! What was worrying me was being refused boarding in Spain. Quote
Gav Posted 19 hours ago Posted 19 hours ago Thanks Tyrone, it’s forced one of our group to get a new passport just to be sure. Quote
Tyrone Shoelaces Posted 18 hours ago Author Posted 18 hours ago 48 minutes ago, Gav said: Thanks Tyrone, it’s forced one of our group to get a new passport just to be sure. To put it in a sentence - you need to look at the date of issue and the ten year rule.and ignore any months that might have been tacked on to your ten years previously if you want to be safe. 1 Quote
only2garners Posted 4 hours ago Posted 4 hours ago 15 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said: What was worrying me was being refused boarding in Spain. That would never have happened Tyrone. Coming back into the UK all you need is a UK passport that hasn't expired. Being more than 10 years old would be irrelevant. Quote
Tyrone Shoelaces Posted 7 minutes ago Author Posted 7 minutes ago 4 hours ago, only2garners said: That would never have happened Tyrone. Coming back into the UK all you need is a UK passport that hasn't expired. Being more than 10 years old would be irrelevant. That’s what the small print says but the airline staff seem to have other ideas. Quote
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