The Federal Foreign Office is updating passport rules for EU countries, including Spain, Greece and Italy
The Foreign Office’s travel advice has been updated for 33 countries to clarify passport rules for UK holidaymakers, including EU holiday hotspots such as Spain, Portugal, France and Greece
Image: Getty Images)
The Foreign Office has issued an update for 33 countries after UK holidaymakers were surprised by post-Brexit rules affecting hotspots including Spain, Portugal, France, Croatia and more.
Countries in the Schengen area require your passport to be no more than 10 years old at the time of issue – but most EU countries also require your passport to be valid for at least three months after your travel date.
The rules can feel quite confusing and some Brits have been caught and unable to board flights because their documents don’t meet all the required criteria.
As a result, the Federal Foreign Office has issued clarifications on passport validity rules and updated its recommendations for 33 countries (see full list below).
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The new advice reads: “If you are planning to travel to an EU country (other than Ireland) or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must meet the Schengen area passport requirements fulfill.
“Your passport must be:
- issued less than 10 years before your entry (check the “date of issue”)
- valid for at least 3 months after the day of your planned departure (check the ‘expiry date’)
“You must check that your passport meets these requirements before you travel. If your passport was issued before October 1, 2018, additional months may have been added to its expiration date.
“Contact the embassy of the country you are visiting if you think your passport does not meet these two requirements. Renew your passport if necessary.”
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Checking the validity of your passport is just one of 4 essential passport checks that Brits should carry out before booking a holiday.
It’s not just about meeting the requirements of your chosen destination; Allow enough time if you need to renew your document.
Earlier this year, the Home Office warned that extensions could be delayed by up to 10 weeks due to a backlog caused by the Covid pandemic.
Millions of UK travelers are estimated to have had their passport applications delayed in 2020 and 2021 thanks to travel bans and Covid restrictions.
We have a guide on how to extend your passport to help you with that.
Countries with updated travel advice
- Andorra
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Always check the latest Foreign Office travel advice for a destination before booking or traveling as this contains a lot of other important information including Covid entry requirements and local regulations that you need to know.
You can also find out more about passport rules in Europe at gov.uk/guidance/passport-rules-for-travel-to-europe.
Do you find the passport rules confusing? Let us know in the comments below.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news/foreign-office-updates-passport-rules-26957576 The Federal Foreign Office is updating passport rules for EU countries, including Spain, Greece and Italy