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Topics: Travel
Gregory Robinson
Topics: Travel
A warning has been issued to all British holidaymakers who still have the old-school red passports.
While all you needed was your passport to jet off to somewhere lush for a holiday, the process for Brits has changed quite a lot since the UK left the European Union (EU) in 2020.
Now British citizens can no longer use the border control lanes for EU citizens when they visit any of the 29 countries that form part of the Schengen area - which is the area of Europe that allows people to freely travel between its member countries.
The Schengen Zone is 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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The colour of UK’s passports was a hot topic amid the referendum - largely because people were initially confused if it was black or blue - with former prime minister Boris Johnson deciding to revert to blue passports following Brexit.
The colour switch now means that red passports, which have the words ‘European Union’ written along the top, are slowly disappearing, and it won't be long before everyone will have a blue passport.
Since the UK bid farewell to the EU, passports must have been issued less than 10 years before the day you enter the Schengen Zone.
And it’s very important to ensure your passport meets this criteria, as it could lead to you being denied entry to the country you’ve planned to visit.
Airlines including Jet2, Ryanair, British Airways, easyJet have all issued warnings for Brits to check their passports before they travel, especially those who still have the old red passports.
If you still have a red passport, however, it must also be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave.
On top of the three-month alert, a six month rule is in place that states your passport has to be valid for another six months after the date of your planned departure, or arrival from, the country.
This is for both domestic and international travel.
If your passport has less than six months validity on it, you could well be denied boarding onto a plane or entry into certain countries after landing.
How you calculate the six month passport validity requirement depends on the specific country you are travelling to. For some, it is about when you leave the country you've been visiting, while others go from the date you arrive in it.
The best way to ensure you’re still able to go on holiday without any setbacks is to check Gov.uk advice for the country you are heading to so that you don't land yourself in trouble.
Here are the countries with a six-month passport rule, according to VisaGuide.World:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Bahrain, Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Canada (only some countries, so better to check), Cambodia, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote D'Ivoire, Curacao, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana. , Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.