Any Brits who still have a red passport issued warning over destinations affected by new rule

If you're still the owner of a red passport, you'd best listen up or risk ruining your next holiday.

If you’re planning a Christmas break abroad this year, you may want to double check your passport’s expiry date.

As many are still using their red passports issued before Brexit, it’s crucial to check if they have enough remaining validity due to an entry requirement for certain countries.

Some destinations require travellers to hold passports that are valid for an additional six months before departure.

The UK stopped issuing red passports in 2020. (Huw Fairclough/Getty Images)

Several websites list the countries that have a six-month or a three-month rule entry requirement, but it’s always best to check the Gov.uk website well in advance to make sure you won’t be denied boarding next time you’re at the airport.

Specifically for EU countries, British travellers must have passports that are less than 10 years old — the common validity window for most passports — on the day of arrival. Moreover, the expiry date on your document should be at least three months after your intended departure date from the EU.

Which countries enforce the six-month passport rule?

In the meantime you can take a look at some of the countries that enforce the six-month rule. A

According to VisaGuide.World, these include Afghanistan, Egypt, Fiji, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

If you have your mind set on jetting off to these and a number of other countries, you want to make sure your passport expires at least six months after your departure date.

Which countries enforce the three-month passport rule?

Countries that require a three-month passport validity from your arrival date are Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Iceland, Italy, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Plan in advance to make sure you're not denied boarding the next time you're flying. (Getty Stock Images)

Post-Brexit, UK travellers can no longer use the border control lanes for EU citizens when visiting any of the 29 countries that are part of the Schengen area, that is the area of Europe that allows people to freely travel between its member countries.

At present, the Schengen Zone is comprised of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

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