Brits With Red Passports Warned To Check Their Passports Before Travelling
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British citizens with red passports who are planning to travel overseas have been urged to check the expiry dates on their passports after rule changes due to Brexit.
The UK left the European Union (EU) on 31st January 2020 and since leaving, there have been validity changes for red passports. Your passport is now only valid for 10 years from the issue date.
Travel company Hays Travel explained the changes in a post on Facebook
If you have a passport that was issued before the UK left the EU with additional months, the extra months are no longer valid.
For example, if your passport issue date is listed as 21st June 2012, the pre-Brexit expiry date would be 21st December 2022. However, due to the change in rules, the passport expiry date is now 21st June 2022.
Most EU countries require that your passport is valid for six months on the date of return from your trip abroad, this means the last date you could return for the example above would be the 21st December 2021.
Some countries require three months. The EU’s official website states: “If you are a non-EU national wishing to visit or travel within the EU, you will need a passport: valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU country you are visiting, which was issued within the previous 10 years."
Before Brexit, Brits could travel to any EU nation up to and including the expiry date on their passport. But when the transition period ended on 31st December 2020, Brits are now treated the same as any other “third country national”.
A third country is one that is not a member of the EU whose citizens cannot take advantage of the EU’s right to free movement.
You can check if your passport is valid for travel by visiting the government's website here.
Topics: Travel