Travel question: Does Brexit mean I need more months on my passport?

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Britons could be hit by tough new rules in the event of no deal (Getty/iStock)

Q A bit of advice please. Do the new passport validity/expiry date rules only apply to travelling to the EU and not the rest of the world?

Sarah B

A It is a sign of the immense confusion and continuing uncertainty over Brexit that you – and presumably many other people – perceive that there are new rules for passport validity applicable to British travellers.

Nothing changes while the UK remains a member of the European Union. The latest official date for departure, after 29 March and 12 April, is 31 October 2019.

Given the disarray and bitter political battles that have characterised Brexit, an earlier exit cannot be ruled out. But I believe you can be confident that the UK will remain in the EU until the October date.

Assuming this is the case, the vast majority of trips that people have booked to Europe will proceed without any complication before the exit date. Your passport is currently valid for travel anywhere in the European Union up to and including the date of expiry. No additional spell of validity is required.

Beyond the end of October it is anyone’s guess what will happen. The only certainty is that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, tough new rules will come into effect.

The latest Home Office advice says: “If the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 31 October 2019, new rules will apply. You should have at least six months left on an adult or child passport to travel to most countries in Europe (not including Ireland).

“If you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. Any extra months on your passport over 10 years may not count towards the six months needed.”

As I have previously pointed out, it is conceivable that someone with more than a year to run on their passport could be turned away from the airport – but that is only in the case of a no-deal Brexit, and only from 1 November 2019. So do ask again in a few months’ time.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder