Holidaymakers going to EU caught out by 10-year-passport rule

[Fr J Hackett]

Is renewing your passport every nine and a half years isn’t that onerous... is it

No I will just nip down to the to the Marie and it will be with me in two weeks if when I applied for it a few years ago is anything like the same experience. Bugger faffing about in Liverpool and paying nearly a £100 plus worrying whether my car would be unmolested in the car park after 6 hours, it wasn't.

 

[Bouba]

No I will just nip down to the to the Marie and it will be with me in two weeks if when I applied for it a few years ago is anything like the same experience. Bugger faffing about in Liverpool and paying nearly a £100 plus worrying whether my car would be unmolested in the car park after 6 hours, it wasn't.

It’s all done online...and the new passport arrives very quickly. Even the photo is done with your iPhone

 

[Fr J Hackett]

It’s all done online...and the new passport arrives very quickly. Even the photo is done with your iPhone

French or English?

 

[Bouba]

French or English?

British

 

[Fr J Hackett]

British

Don't think I will bother

 

[Poignard]

The government did this so you can renew your passport before it expires (and you need to do it well before it expires because issuing a new passport takes fookin' ages due to government incompetence).

[...]

There's nobody detests this incompetent government more than me but in fairness I must say that my passport renewal last year was very fast,

I applied (online) on 28th November and my new passport arrived on 6th December. That included a slight delay due to the Passport Office not liking the selfie passport photo I submitted and my having to get one taken by a professional photographer.

I suppose the time of year when you apply would have a lot to do with it,

 

[ashtead]

I wonder if this is an issue if sailing to France though ? A trip to some Brittany ports was passport free I recall last time I was there .

 

[Sandy]

I wonder if this is an issue if sailing to France though ? A trip to some Brittany ports was passport free I recall last time I was there .

Did you not check in at a Port of Entry?

 

[Neeves]

Doesn't matter how often this is publicised, some folks never watch or read the news and will be caught out, along with those who are charged £60 at the gate to put oversized cabin bag(s) into the hold. Booking in on-line process is at fault in a way, they only ask for passport expiry date, no start date which could flag a warning to advise passengers they need to renew passport before travel.

I'm a dual citizen but for everyday travel I need my Australian passport to leave the country. I carry my UK passport as there are some financial benefits (many reduced rates to enter art galleries or museums) when in Europe and it makes life easier if I enter the UK. Some countries accept Australian passports for visa free access some for UK passports and not vice versa.

But I'm one of those for whom the changes in the UK Passport rules don't impact until it is near the end of the current passport's validity - so the contents of this thread are all news to me (and my guess is - others like me).

Jonathan

 

[Martin_J]

But I'm one of those for whom the changes in the UK Passport rules don't impact until it is near the end of the current passport's validity - so the contents of this thread are all news to me (and my guess is - others like me).

Jonathan

At least you've appreciated the problem.

Even if this thread has only saved you (or one other person) an issue at the gate in a few years time.. it was worthwhile!

 

[Momac]

Is renewing your passport every nine and a half years isn’t that onerous... is it

Quite right its no bother.
But you can potentially leave it until the last minute or even until after the passport expires.
A passport is not required at all if you are not going to leave your country.

 

[Frank Holden]

I'm a dual citizen but for everyday travel I need my Australian passport to leave the country. I carry my UK passport as there are some financial benefits (many reduced rates to enter art galleries or museums) when in Europe and it makes life easier if I enter the UK. Some countries accept Australian passports for visa free access some for UK passports and not vice versa.

But I'm one of those for whom the changes in the UK Passport rules don't impact until it is near the end of the current passport's validity - so the contents of this thread are all news to me (and my guess is - others like me).

Jonathan

Be thankful you have a UK passport if you ever think of coming to Chile, to call the visa requirements if travelling on an Australian passport onerous would be putting it mildly. Mind you it is just tit-for-tat.
I've just checked my UK passport - its a blue one issued in '21 with a flat ten years.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Be thankful you have a UK passport if you ever think of coming to Chile, to call the visa requirements if travelling on an Australian passport onerous would be putting it mildly. Mind you it is just tit-for-tat.
I've just checked my UK passport - its a blue one issued in '21 with a flat ten years.

I took out travel health insurance for a 50th Birthday trip to Australia, we did a road trip from Cairns to Sydney .... in Byron Bay after a 3 day kite-surfing course I got dehydrated and ended up with a kidney stone (not sure if it was related) .... went to Byron Central Hospital in agony where I was asked to provide a sample and excreted a rice-grain-sized stone and the pain stopped immediately. I had my insurance in hand and was told "You lucky bast@rd, just as well you're a Brit, we have an agreement with the NHS, no charge." ... and off I went. Wish I'd known I was covered by my UK passport before buying the health insurance.

 

[Neeves]

Wish I'd known I was covered by my UK passport before buying the health insurance.

If you asked I could have told you, works both ways. And the advise would have been free

But health insurance covers flying home, if necessary, the reciprocal cover is simply for health.

Based on personal experience our health service is better than yours - so you get the better deal.

Reciprocity - the benefits of Empire still lingering

Once when I came back, to the UK, I was asked (by the friendly immigration officer) was I coming back to take advantage of the NHS - I wondered which planet he had come from - if we ever needed a serious health procedure we would want to get to Oz - pronto.

Jonathan

 

[Bouba]

If you asked I could have told you, works both ways. And the advise would have been free

But health insurance covers flying home, if necessary, the reciprocal cover is simply for health.

Based on personal experience our health service is better than yours - so you get the better deal.

Reciprocity - the benefits of Empire still lingering

Once when I came back, to the UK, I was asked (by the friendly immigration officer) was I coming back to take advantage of the NHS - I wondered which planet he had come from - if we ever needed a serious health procedure we would want to get to Oz - pronto.

Jonathan

I suppose that if he only asked that question from people arriving from those countries that we all know come for health tourism, he would be accused of racism....so he has to ask

 

[Frogmogman]

Not round the Empire

Sadly, this isn’t true.

Before we became French citizens I was irked to have to buy visas on entry to Turkey, when our daughters, already French Citizens did not. I was then even more irritated that Visas to India were half the price for French Passport holders than for UK ones, although Brits with a French Carte de Séjour could benefit from the cheaper rate.

I took our Cartes de Séjour, (at that stage a good ten years out of date, as they were no longer required) with me to the Indian consulate when I made the application. The documents were cheerfully accepted with a “well, it’s still you, isn’t it ?” So we got the lower rate.

The point is, ever since the Government decided to monetize consular services, charging much higher rates to make profit from the whole business, other countries have retaliated by hiking fees and making life difficult for UK passport holders.

 

[Alicatt]

My current UK passport is still valid until August 2027, and valid for travel up to May 2027, it is 10years and three months extra.
Wife's Belgian passport is valid for 8 years from date of issue, an extra €80 to travel to the UK.
Sis in law and her hubby were going to come over with us this summer to Scotland until they found out they needed a passport each, and at €80 each they said no, as that would pay for a couple of flights to Malaga, so they are not traveling to Scotland.

 

[Bouba]

My current UK passport is still valid until August 2027, and valid for travel up to May 2027, it is 10years and three months extra.
Wife's Belgian passport is valid for 8 years from date of issue, an extra €80 to travel to the UK.
Sis in law and her hubby were going to come over with us this summer to Scotland until they found out they needed a passport each, and at €80 each they said no, as that would pay for a couple of flights to Malaga, so they are not traveling to Scotland.

Sounds like a result

 

[Alicatt]

Sounds like a result

Oh I don't know, they are fun and they would have propped up the brewing industry between the pair of them

 

[Graham376]

I'm a dual citizen but for everyday travel I need my Australian passport to leave the country.

My wife is dual citizen, UK and Portugal but her Portuguese passport is in maiden name. She uses UK one to travel to UK and Portuguese on to travel to Portugal as she doesn't have residence there under married name. Likewise, she doesn't have residence here under maiden name. Will be real fun when some computer wonders why she keeps arriving bur never departing or, keeps departing but never arriving