Going away next week? Use our tool to find out if your passport is still valid under the EU’s new travel rules
Is your passport valid for your next trip? Or do you risk being turned away at airport check-in? Recent estimates from Confused.com suggest that thousands of travellers a year are still getting caught out by a rule that has applied to British nationals since Brexit. This often means that our passports are not valid for entry to the Schengen area (which includes the vast majority of EU countries) even if they are well short of the expiry date stamped in the document.
To help you avoid this trap, we have developed a new passport-validity checker. It covers the whole world – not just the EU – so that by filling in our simple form you can anticipate any issues and make sure you are on track for a trouble-free trip.
What is the 10-year rule?
The problem with British passports in the EU stems from the EU’s standard limit, which it imposes on the validity of any non-EU passport – and which applied to all British passports from January 2020.
The EU requires all passport issue dates to be less than 10 years before your arrival date and to be valid for at least three months after your planned return date. So, in practice your passport ceases to be valid in the EU nine years and nine months after the date it was issued. Sounds straightforward given that British passports are generally valid for 10 years.
However, in the years running up to 2020, if you renewed your passport before the old one expired, additional months were added to the expiry of the new one, making the total validity somewhat longer than 10 years. That didn’t matter when we were part of the EU, but it does now, because these extra months are not counted for passport holders of non-member states.
A concrete example: a passport is stamped as valid from July 18 2015 and the expiry date is given as November 18 2025 (a total of 10 years, four months). If you looked only at the expiry date, then you would think that it is valid for travel in the EU’s Schengen zone until three months before that November date, which would be August 18 2025. But as far as the EU is concerned, it ceases to be valid nine years and nine months after it was issued, which gives us a date seven months earlier: April 18 2025.
What is the new Entry/Exit System?
It is also worth noting that two new systems are due to be introduced for entry into the Schengen area. A new Entry/Exit System comprises e-gates and the computerised system, which will automatically check UK passports (and many others) at the external borders of countries in the Schengen area. It will replace the system of manually stamping passports, and monitor how long you spend in the area.
There will also be a new visa waiver system – the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) – which must be used by tourists and business travellers. You will have to apply in advance of travel and pay a fee of €7 (£5.85). The introduction of both schemes has been delayed, however – for the latest news and more information, see our guide.
What about other countries?
Different countries have very different rules on passport validity. Nearly three-dozen countries, including, for example, Canada, Australia and Barbados, allow you to stay right up to the expiry date on your passport. Some require three months from your arrival date, others from your departure date. Still others require six months from one or other of those dates, while Turkey stipulates 150 days after arriving. Our new tool automatically checks the requirements for each.
Do countries change their requirements?
It doesn’t happen often, but it is certainly possible, so if your passport will have less than a year’s validity from the date you intend to travel, you should always double-check what your destination requires. The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) includes information on this as well as on visas (see below) in its country advice pages, though sometimes it refers you directly to the embassy of the country in question. We update our tool regularly and receive alerts from the FCDO if any changes are made.
How to renew your passport
The good news is that the Passport Office has finally got its act together, and after years when the extended backlog meant that you had to allow 10 weeks for a renewal, the website is now saying that most applications are completed within three weeks. There are also more expensive fast-track and premium services if you have to renew at short notice. Our full guidance on renewing a British passport is here.
What about visas and other entry requirements?
Many countries obviously also require visas or – as in the US Esta system – pre-registration before you travel. Others issue visas automatically on arrival. It’s vital to check these requirements as well as your passport validity as far in advance of travel as you can. The FCDO is the best starting point for advice and information.
And inoculations?
In some countries, especially in the tropics, inoculations may not only be advisable, but you may have to provide proof of vaccination as part of the entry requirements. Our guide is here. Note that, to be fully effective, some vaccinations need to be administered several weeks before travel.
How we created the passport validity checker
Our passport validity checker is based on the FCDO’s advice, and is correct as of October 11 2024. However, as countries can update their passport requirements at any time, we recommend that you also carry out your own validity check prior to travel. The tool includes all countries except Afghanistan, to which the FCDO advises against all travel. If you decide to travel to Afghanistan against FCDO advice, you must check with your travel provider whether your passport and other travel documents meet the Afghanistan embassy entry requirements.
Need to update your passport? Our guide offers advice on how long the process might take.
