Travel News: Passport Validity for EU Travel
Date Posted: 27/04/2022
Summer holidays are back and we couldn’t be more excited. It is finally time to dig out your summer sandals and dust off your passport.
We all know that we must check the Covid Entry Requirements before we travel. However, it is equally important this summer that we make sure our passports are valid for EU travel.
Now that we are no longer part of the EU there are two things you need to look out for on a UK passport.
- Your passport must be issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country.
Your UK passport must be less than 10 years old on the day you enter your EU destination. For this you will need to check the ‘Date of Issue’ on your passport photo page.
- You must have 3 months validity from the day you return home to the UK.
From the day you return home from your holiday, you must have 3 months validity left on your passport. For this you will need to check the ‘Date of Expiry’.
It is important to note that if your passport was issued before 1 October 2018, extra months may have been added to its expiry date.
These rules apply to all EU member states (except Ireland) and include Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.
Contact the embassy of the country you are visiting if you think that your passport does not meet both these requirements.
Please note, Turkey is not an EU member state and therefore has its own set of passport validity rules. To visit Turkey you must have 6 months validity from the date you arrive in Turkey. This is the only criteria.
How Do I Renew My Passport?
The easiest and cheapest way to renew your passport is to apply online via the Government Website. This will cost £75.50 and can be done via the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport
You can also call into your local post office and ask for a paper form to renew your passport. This service will cost an extra £9.50.
Current advice is to allow up to 10 weeks to receive your new passport. Therefore it is imperative that you renew as early as possible before you travel.
You can track the progress of your application here:
https://www.gov.uk/track-passport-application
If you need your passport urgently then you can apply for the Online Premium Service. For this you will need to book an appointment at a passport office and pay £177 online. You can book an appointment up to 3 weeks in advance.
To find your nearest passport office please click here:
https://www.gov.uk/find-regional-passport-office
To book an appointment please click here:
https://www.passport.service.gov.uk/urgent/
If you have an Irish passport and you need to renew it, the Irish Passport Office is also experiencing an extremely high volume of applications and processing times are being impacted as a result. For renewals, please visit www.dfa.ie/passportonline
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact your local branch or visit our FAQ page.
