There’s already enough things that can go wrong when you’re catching a flight – it could be overbooked or cancelled – so it’s a good idea to do your due diligence when it comes to your personal travel documents.
You don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot, so to speak.
We Brits, especially, need to be mindful of travel rules because Brexit has changed how we fly to other countries.
Since the UK has now left the European Union, travelling to Europe and the Schengen Zone comes with some complications, as UK passport holders are now ’third-party nationals’.
This means that your passport now needs to be issued less than ten years before your arrival date to the destination.
One mum learned that lesson the hard way.
Hollie, who goes by @hollieandthevan on TikTok, said she was turned away while trying to go to France on a family holiday.
Though her passport expired in April this year, she still had nine months left on her validity as she had renewed it nine months early in 2014.
This means her passport doesn’t officially expire until January 2025. However, Brexit rules have now changed things and our passport expiry has to be less than ten years old.
For Holly that means the nine months Holly had left are no longer valid. She will have to now get an emergency passport which can take a few days.
Now the issue date is just as important as the expiry date, meaning your passport needs to be less than ten years to the day you’re landing.
Before, you could travel with a passport that was out of date by up to nine months, (meaning you were able to use it for more than ten years).
Now, not only must your passport be less than ten years old, you also need to make sure it has at least three months remaining on its expiry.
Simply put, if you’re travelling to Spain on 5 August 2024, you need to make sure your passport was issued after 5 August 2014 and expires no earlier than 5 November 2024 (which is three months after August).
You can check if your passport will be valid on the government’s website.
Post-Brexit passport rules explained
What are the new passport renewal rules?
These rules apply to Brits travelling to all EU member states, except Ireland. They also apply to other countries in Europe’s Schengen area, such as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, and Monaco.
Now, your UK passport must:
- have been issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the EU country (the date of issue)
- be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave (the date of expiry)
How can I check if my passport is still valid?
Check the date of issue on your passport – is it issued within ten years of the day you land?
Add three months to the day you leave the country – does your passport expire after that?
If the answer to the questions above is ‘yes’ then you don’t need to worry. But if it is ‘no’ then you’ll need to either apply for a passport renewal or get an emergency travel document (especially if your travel date is soon, or you get turned away at the airport).
How much is passport renewal in 2024?
You will need to renew your passport though the HM Passport Office, which allows you to renew it through the post or online.
You can use the online service to renew your passport at a cost of £88.50. You’ll need: a digital photo; a credit or debit card; and your old passport including passports to other countries.
You can get a paper application form by either going to a Post Office that has a Check and Send service, or calling the Passport Adviceline. This costs £100.
To renew your child’s passport, it’s slightly cheaper. Online, the service costs £57.50 – you’ll need a digital photo of your child, their old passport, any valid passports from other countries, and any court orders relating to your child.
You can also renew their passport by post, in the same way you would for an adult, which costs £69.
You can pay by either a debit or credit card – fill in the form in the application pack, or send a cheque made payable to ‘HM Passport Office’
You’ll need two new and identical printed photos of yourself.
It’s not just travel rules you have to be mindful of – there are also Visa rules you definitely need to look up.
UK travellers to U.S don’t need a Visa if they’re staying less than 90 days but require a Visa Waiver called an ESTA.
Another woman also had a hard lesson to learn when she arrived at the airport in London trying to head to New York.
Endometriosis campaigner Meg, @theendospectrum, who was flying to the U.S for work for three days didn’t realise she needed her ESTA.
Stuck at the airport where she applied for the waiver online, Meg said she was continually refreshing her email to see if it had come through.
Luckily for her, the ESTA did come through in time and she was able to board her flight on time.
Don’t leave it to chance though and definitely do your research and have all your papers in order.
You can get the Visa Waiver through the U.S government website.
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