Ah Brexit, the gift that keeps giving. Food prices are soaring, some Scottish islands could be abandoning us, and even Nigel Farage himself has said that Brexit has failed. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
Now in more IDEAL news, it turns out that a lot of countries won’t let UK citizens in with a red passport even if it’s not yet out of date. So, if you were planning on an exciting getaway in the coming months, you might need to update to the blue passport before heading off.
Why isn’t my red passport legal everywhere?
So, different countries have different laws on passport validities and even if you’re planning on flying out and back within your passport validity dates, that might not be enough for these countries.
Many countries outline that your passport must have at least six months left on them and as many red passports are due to expire soon, this could mean yours, too.
A number of countries do also apply a three month passport validity rule. So, for non-EU countries travelling to the EU, passports must be valid for at least three months after the day you leave the EU. Owning an old red passport doesn’t affect this, though.
Which countries have these restrictions?
According to VisaGuide.World, the following countries have restrictions that may impact your future travel plans.
The full list of countries with the six month rule is:
Afghanistan, Indonesia, Samoa, Algeria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Anguilla, Iraq, Singapore, Bahrain, Israel, Solomon Islands, Bhutan, Jordan, Somalia, Botswana, Kenya, Somaliland, British Virgin Islands, Kiribati, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Laos, Sudan, Cambodia, Madagascar, Suriname, Cameroon, Malaysia, Taiwan, Cayman Islands, Marshall Islands, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Micronesia, Thailand, Chad, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Comoros, Namibia, Tokelau, Côte D’Ivoire, Nicaragua, Tonga, Curacao, Nigeria, Tuvalu, Ecuador, Oman, Uganda, Egypt, Palau, United Arab Emirates, El Salvador, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Equatorial Guinea, Philippines, Venezuela, Fiji, Qatar, Vietnam, Gabon, Rwanda, Yemen, Guinea Bissau, Saint Lucia, Zimbabwe, and Guyana.
The list of countries with the three month passport rule is as follows:
Albania, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Malta, Belarus, Moldova, Belgium, Monaco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Czechia, Nauru, Estonia, Netherlands, Finland, New Zealand, France, North Macedonia, Georgia, Norway, Germany, Panama, Greece, Poland, Honduras, Portugal, Iceland, Senegal, Italy, Slovakia, Jordan, Slovenia, Kuwait, Spain, Latvia, Sweden, Lebanon, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
Before you travel abroad this summer, check that your passport is valid within their country’s laws and if not, update your passport ASAP.