00:00We're on the verge of the peak holiday season and I'm afraid that means a number of people will be turning up at airports across the UK with their passport and very sadly finding that they are not being allowed on board because they have inadvertently breached the passport validity rules.
00:21Just to remind you, after the vote to leave the European Union, the government negotiated for us to become third country nationals, just like people from Venezuela.
00:34The thing is that British passports fairly uniquely can be issued for more than 10 years, which is a great thing.
00:43But unfortunately, if you are trying to get into the European Union and wider Schengen area, you cannot get into those countries after your passport is 10 years old.
00:59So the rules are that your passport must have not passed its 10th birthday and it must have at least three months remaining before you intend to leave the European Union.
01:15That applies only to the European Union and wider Schengen area.
01:20There are two exceptions. The easy one is Ireland, where British people don't even need a passport to go there.
01:28But some airlines, I mean you, Ryanair, require you to have a valid passport to travel.
01:35No minimum validity rules, though.
01:38The other exception is Denmark, which has just completely gone off on one and decided it's going to invent its own rules.
01:46In particular, that the passport cannot be more than nine years and nine months old on the day you intend to arrive.
01:54Yes, I have told them it's wrong. It's in breach of the Schengen area rules.
02:00I've also told Brussels that. But nothing has happened so far.
02:05If you're going beyond the European Union, then there's a good chance that your passport is simply valid to the last day on the passport.
02:15Now, the only part of the world which cares when your passport was issued is the European Union.
02:22So if anybody tells you, oh, a British passport expires automatically after 10 years, they are talking tosh.
02:31For example, for Australia, for Tunisia, for Barbados, for the United States, for Canada, your passport is valid right up until its expiry date.
02:41For the very popular destination of Turkey, you need 150 days, so about five months remaining on the day you enter.
02:53There is a swerve that you can use to get around that, which is that if you apply and pay for an actual visa, then you only need three months, 190 days remaining.
03:06And if you're going to Morocco, that's one of many countries that needs three months for other destinations such as the UAE,
03:16your passport must be valid for six months after the day of entry.
03:21It's worth saying that Dubai and Abu Dhabi Airport also require you to have at least three months remaining on the day you transit those airports,
