Passports have to abide by specific travel rules and you might get caught out
Brits have been issued a stark warning when it comes to the state of their passport when leaving the UK for foreign land to avoid leaving their holiday in ruin.
Passport control is an essential requirement we have to go through when travelling the world, with it becoming more of a drawn out process since the United Kingdom left the European Union (EU).
Now, Brits have to go through border control when they go into any of the 29 countries that form part of the Schengen Zone; the area of Europe where there is freedom of movement.
Following Brexit, former prime minister Boris Johnson introduced blue passports as a symbolic gesture of freedom. Or something like that, anyway.
It meant that those with red passports, which have the words ‘European Union’ along the top, are the last of a dying breed before they move over to the blue form eventually.
Those who will need to upgrade to the blue kind have been warned by a variety of airlines – we’re talking Jet2, Ryanair, British Airways, easyJet, and more – about making sure everything is in order before travelling.
That’s because since the UK said goodbye to the EU, your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the day you enter the Schengen Zone.
Is this your passport? Might be time to renew (Huw Fairclough/Getty Images)
It must also be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave.
The Schengen Zone is Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
On top of the three-month alert, a six month rule is in place that states your passport has to be valid for another six months after the date of your planned departure, or arrival from, the country. This is for both domestic and international travel.
The red passport will soon be gone for good (Getty Stock Photo)
If your passport has less than six months validity on it, you could well be denied boarding onto a plane or entry into certain countries after landing.
How you calculate the six month passport validity requirement depends on the specific country you are travelling to. For some, it is about when your leave the country you’ve been visiting while others go from the date you arrive in it.
The best bet is to check Gov.uk advice for the country you are heading to so that you don’t land yourself in trouble.
According to VisaGuide.World, here are the countries with a six-month passport rule:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Bahrain, Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Canada (only some countries, so better to check), Cambodia, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote D’Ivoire, Curacao, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana. , Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.
