European Passport Rules

Before Brexit, the Government would issue passports for ten years, plus the extra months of validity left on your old passport, meaning that many passport holders will have a passport that is valid for more than 10 years.

Now that British passport holders are not EU citizens, these extra months are no longer valid for travel in the EU.

Travellers nearing the end of a passport’s validity who try to travel within these extra “bonus months” could be barred from entering the EU.

To enter the EU, you’ll need at least three months left on your passport on the day you plan on leaving the EU.

The EU’s official website says: “If you are a non-EU national wishing to visit or travel within the EU, you will need a passport:

• Valid for at least three months after the date you intend to leave the EU country you are visiting
• Which was issued within the previous 10 years

You can visit the newly relaunched online passport checker on the Home Office website. You’ll need to type in the country you’re visiting, your date of birth and your passport expiry issue and expiry date.

If you want to double-check your result, you can visit visaguide.world where they’ve created their own tool that enables UK citizens, as well as other foreign nationals, to check their passport’s validity for travel to the EU.