Passport Renewals.?

[ibizaboy]

my passport expires june 2021. i hope/intend to travel in may 2021. as you must have a minimum of 6 months on your passport and by january 2021 it must not be 10 years old ( mine will be) i want to renew now but im told you are not allowed to unless urgent. do i just sit and wait.?

[Buenchico]

The '6 month rule' that's often quoted is a bit of a myth anyway. The vast majority of countries that British tourists visit have never had such a rule. It's only a small minority that have but lazy travel agents, rather than learn and explain the different rules for each country, have often just told travellers that they 'must' have 6 months validity on their passports in order to be able to travel.

Things might change in respect of travel to EU countries though after the Brexit transition period has been completed but there still seem to be some doubts over the matter. So you need to check the rules for the particular country that you're planning on travelling to in May of next year. (For example, if you're hoping to travel to the USA, you DON'T need 6 months validity on your passport. Most visitors to the USA do but there's an exemption for holders of UK passports).

[MWG14]

My daughter has just had her passport renewed at the Peterborough office. It came back very quickly.

[bhg481]

Haven't the rules changed recently such that the new passport will be valid for 10 years from its issue date, rather than 10 years from the expiry of the old one? In other words, if you renew today your new passport will expire in May 2030, not June 2031.

[ibizaboy]

ah ha. thanks bhg481. thats my misinterpretation of the change. i hope to go to switzerland in may for my 60th birthday so i thought with less than 6 months on my passport i would need to "renew" by november but clearly its a " renewal date" from when you apply. thanks.