UK Updates Passport Rules, Correcting the Confusing Post-Brexit Advice for Travel to EU

Despite the fact that the UK’s government has often been criticized for incorrect advice that was not compatible with EU entry rules, it has continued to issue such advice for many months now, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

The FCDO advice stressed that “your passport may need to be less than ten years old during your whole visit.”

The updated advice published on the FCDO advice shows the two conditions that a UK passport must meet in order to travel to the European Union and Schengen Zone countries.

The advice for EU and Schengen Zone countries emphasizes that a UK passport must meet the following requirements:

• Issued less than ten years before the date a person enters the country (check the ‘date of issue)
• Valid for at least three months after a person plans to leave the country (check the ‘expiry date’)

“You must check if your passport meets these requirements before you travel. If your passport was issued before 1 October 2018, extra months might have been added to its expiry date,” the advice reads.

FCDO has announced that these added months would not be accepted as valid for entry to the countries of EU and Schengen from Britain.

Authorities in the UK have said that the advice on France, Italy, and other EU and Schengen zone countries will be updated shortly.

According to the previous announcement published by FCDO, for EU and Schengen Zone countries, the misleading advice stressed: “For some Schengen countries your passport may need to be less than ten years old during your whole visit, and the three months at the end of your visit may need to be within ten years of your passport’s issue date.”

In this regard, a Foreign Office spokesperson said that the advice published by FCDO is kept under constant review in order to ensure that British travelers are aware of the risk and have detailed information in order to help plan their trip.

“We welcome that the European Commission is now updating its guidance in regards to their rules affecting some UK passports,” a Foreign Office spokesperson pointed out in this regard, as reported by the Independent.