Going to the EU this summer - check your passport

[AF62]

Just been reading elsewhere about someone who was denied boarding a flight to Spain with their family because their passport did not comply with EU Schengen area validity dates and as a result lost the cost of the holiday.

Around the time the UK left the EU the 'six month rule' was widely touted in the press (and on the Foreign Office website) saying "make sure your passport has six months left if travelling".

This is wrong (and the Foreign Office have now updated their website).

For Schengen area countries there are two rules, both of which must be complied with -
1. The passport must be less than 10 years old on the date you enter; and
2. The passport must have 3 months validity on the day you plan to leave.

However... the issue for UK passport holders is the UK used to 'carry over' up to 9 months if you renewed your passport early, so your passport could be over 10 years old and still have 6 months left before the expiry date. That is not acceptable for Schengen area countries and so you need to ignore the expiry date and treat it as expiring 10 years after the issue date.

In addition nobody knows whether the 3 months validity is allowed within the 'carry over' or must be within the 'less than 10 years old' (apparently some Schengen area border guards think it does and some think it doesn't - the Foreign Office is trying to get clarification).

So Fools who are heading off to an EU Schengen area on their holidays for the first time in a while might want to check the dates on their passports and not just think - "that's OK it's valid until the end of September 2022", as for an EU Schengen area country that might have effectively expired at the end of September last year if you had nine months carry over when you renewed in 2011/2012.