There’s nothing more joyful at the start of a new year than looking forward and booking that break in the sun. For most of us, a break away is the mid-point of the year, it’s hard-earned and – by the time it comes around – who’s not ready for a week on a lounger, or a week enjoying the sights and sounds of somewhere new?

With all that excitement, something that you may forget to check is your passport and how long you have left before it expires – but you need to. And here’s why.

Now that the UK has left the EU the passport rules have changed. It used to be that you could travel to Spain, Italy or wherever else in the EU on your British passport as long as your passport covered the duration of your trip. Now, post-Brexit the rules are different.

If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must follow the Schengen area passport requirements. This means that you must have three months remaining on your passport from the date you leave for your holiday. So, for example, if you’re due to head off on your break on June 30th, your passport must be valid until September 30th at the earliest. It’s worth noting as well that your passport should have been issued no more than 10 years before your holiday start date, so if your passport was issued before October 2018, you may want to check as additional months may have been added if you applied for your passport renewal early.

These are just the rules that apply to EU destinations – rules for other destinations may be different, so it’s worth checking those here.

If you do need to renew your passport, currently applications are taking ten weeks – and this may change as things get busier. For information on applying for a new passport, or to renew an old passport, click this link. 

As always, should you need any help with your passport, or should you be faced with a delay in your application being fulfilled, my team and I are on hand to support you. Tap here to get in touch.