Believe it or not, June is tomorrow and I’m sure we’re all mega excited for days out at a stunning beach in Greece, sipping on sangria in Spain or eating your body weight in pizza in Italy.
However, before you jet off for your hot girl Euro summer, be sure to check your passport as not doing so could end up ruining your entire holiday.
So, to help alleviate some of the inevitable airport stress, experts at Citizens Advice have shared an important warning for any Brits travelling to Europe in the next few months.
Not checking your passport before a flight could ruin your entire holiday. (Alvaro Medina Jurado / Getty Images)
A common travelling misconception is that your passport simply needs to be in date in order to be permitted on a plane.
However, this is far from the case as many countries still require any globe-trotters to have a certain amount of time on their passport before they allow you in.
Citizens Advice says that anyone planning on flying to Europe should check their passport is valid for the dates they’re travelling
You’ll need to renew your passport if either:
- There’s less than three months left on your passport at any time while you’re travelling – you can check your passport to find out when it expires
- Your passport is 10 years old or more on the day you enter the EU country – you can count this from the date your passport was issued
You can also check if your passport will be valid for your trip on the official GOV.UK website simply by searching for the country you’re going to and clicking on ‘entry requirements’.
Double-check the passport requirements of the country you’re visiting ahead of time. (Dimensions / Getty Images)
So, for Italy and Spain, for example, your passport must:
- Have a ‘date of issue’ less than 10 years before the date you arrive. Passports issued after 1 October, 2018 are now valid for only 10 years, but for passports issued before 1 October, 2018, extra months may have been added if you renewed a passport early
- Have an ‘expiry date’ at least three months after the day you plan to leave
If you find that your passport doesn’t currently meet the requirements of your selected country, then you should apply for your passport renewal ‘as early as you can’ as it can take several weeks to process in busy times.
Not to worry if you’re leaving imminently, however, as you can always opt for the Online Premium or one week Fast Track services.
So, check those numbers on your passport to make sure all you have to worry about once you get to the airport is whether to get wine or Prosecco.
Featured Image Credit: Alvaro Medina Jurado / Getty Images/d3sign/Getty Images