Holidaymakers are being cautioned to not fall foul of the “passport 10-year rule” which could cause issues for EU travel plans. Previously, UK travellers could carry up to nine months from an expired passport over onto a new one. However, since Brexit, EU nations will not accept passports issued over a decade ago. This means that up to 32 million UK citizens who applied for their passports before the new rules were implemented are potentially affected. Some may have a passport that is valid for travel worldwide but not within parts of Europe.
Reports suggest that even those who have checked-in online and gone through airport security can still be prevented from boarding. Passports issued after 2018 are valid for exactly 10 years. However, if a UK passport were issued before September 2018, it could be valid for up to 10 years and nine months, due to the passport office previously adding the remaining months from an old passport onto a new one.
Travellers heading to European and Scandinavian countries, including Switzerland and Lichtenstein, excluding Ireland, must ensure that their passport was issued no earlier than a decade ago and has an expiry date valid three months after they return. The Home Office reveals that it does keep the rules on its website under review and that data from March 2014 to September 2018 saw over 32 million applications for UK passports, leaving it unsure as to how many of those have been affected by the new rule.
Some travellers have described the rule as “catching people out” and have called on airlines and holiday operators to do more to warn people about the problem. The Independent’s travel correspondent, Simon Calder, found that perhaps “a couple of hundred people a day” are being turned away from their flights and highlights the potential for over 100,000 people a year to lose their holiday due to the new rules
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