How do I know if my passport is valid?

This blog contains information on travelling to Europe. For more information on travelling to Europe and for European Travel Insurance, click here.

The rules around passport validity date have changed since Brexit and it’s caused some confusion among travellers, with many believing their passports are valid only to find they do not meet the new criteria meaning they cannot travel.

We’ve cut through the noise to explain the changes and help ensure you have everything in place for your journey to go as smoothly as possible.

Firstly, the length of time required on your passport now depends on the country you are visiting.

So, the first step will be to check the FCDO travel advice website and look for ‘passport requirements’ which can be found under the ‘entry requirements’ section.

We take a look at Spain, to explain the changes.

Let’s say you are going to Spain from 21st – 28th September 2022.

The FCDO website states (at time of writing) that your passport must be:

• issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the ‘date of issue’)
• valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

Any passports that were issued before 1 November 2018 were eligible for extra months to be carried over. For example, if you renewed your passport and had three months left, the three months would have been added to your new passport – meaning it was then valid for ten years and three months. You could carry up to a maximum of nine months.

Cutting through the confusion

This is where the confusion arises, as any additional months added are no longer valid for travel to certain EU countries. To travel on 21st September 2022 your passport needs to have been issued after the 28th November 2012.

• This means your passport is issued less than ten years before the date you enter the country
• Is valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave and excludes any additional months carried over from a previous passport renewal.

If you do not have enough time left on your passport, you will need to renew this before travel.

You can find current passport processing times here.

European Countries that the new rules apply to:

(click on the country to be taken straight to the FCDO entry requirements page)

• 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
• Vatican City

Hopefully this helps clarify the rules for you to avoid any unnecessary changing of plans.

What happens if I lose my passport on holiday?

Don’t forget to arrange your Travel Insurance before you travel and remember, your policy provides cover should you lose your passport while abroad, meaning you may be able to recover the costs of obtaining a new one to enable your return home.