Government guidelines recommend that tourists allow a 10-week window to receive a new passport as a result of passport office worker strikes. Five weeks of walkouts have forced contingency plans to be put in place to ensure as many Britons receive their renewal or replacement documents as possible. But while thousands of travellers will rush to ensure their passport is valid, an expert at Visaguide. World has warned against this “hasty” approach. They explained travellers should check how long they actually need on their passport for where they are visiting.
The travel expert said: “It’s natural to feel a bit panicked about all that is going, on be that processing time or the clog of applications via online measures.
“Travellers should not hasten to renew their passports, rather they should check for their validity on their passports and their travel destination policy on this matter.
“This is where the six- months passport rule comes in handy to be informed of.”
In general, many countries that require a visa to enter will require at least six months of validity on a passport when entering the country, though most EU countries demand just three months.
Though the countries that allow a longer grace period on the passport expiry date may be lesser travelled by British holidaymakers, the repercussions of not having a full six months could result in the long haul trip being cancelled for those that are planning on visiting.
According to VisaGuide.World, there are 72 countries that enforce the six-month rule, including summer hotspots like Egypt, Turkey, and Saint Lucia.
Countries with a six-month passport rule
Some of the most popular destinations for British tourists include:
- Algeria
- Bahrain
- Botswana
- British Virgin Islands
- Cambodia
- Cayman Islands
- Egypt
- Indonesia
- Kenya
- Saint Lucia
- Sri Lanka
- Singapore
- Turkey
- Zimbabwe
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For these countries, passport renewal is essential if there are less than six months left until the expiry date from the day of departure to the destination country.
However, for those concerned about not having time to renew, there are plenty of EU destinations that allow just three months.
According to the travel expert, 41 countries apply a three-month passport validity rule, so renewal may not be necessary.
If a passport has three months left until the expiry date on the day of departure, travel is permitted to:
- Albania
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia
- Herzegovina
- Czechia
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Honduras
- Iceland
- Italy
- Jordan
- Juwait
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Nauru
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Panama
- Poland
- Portugal
- Senegal
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
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