If you happen to nonetheless have an outdated burgundy passport, you may must make one very important examine earlier than you journey this 12 months – or you may threat ruining your vacation.
Burgundy passport holders should examine one factor earlier than travelling (inventory photograph) (Picture: Getty) This text accommodates affiliate hyperlinks, we’ll obtain a fee on any gross sales we generate from it. Study extra
If you happen to’re one of many roughly 32 million Brits who nonetheless owns a burgundy passport, you may must make some very important checks earlier than you head on vacation this summer season – or you may threat ruining your journey plans.
The UK switched from burgundy passports to blue ones in 2020, however as of early 2025, it was estimated that round 32 million Brits nonetheless owned a legitimate burgundy passport. It’s because UK passports are often legitimate for 10 years, so burgundy passports may very well be in use till a minimum of 2029, and maybe even into 2030.
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However as we strategy peak vacation season, Brits with burgundy passports are being suggested to scrutinise the data printed on the doc – as one factor that is now not included on UK passports may “break journey guidelines”.
A TikTok video posted by Rudge Every day highlighted the necessity for “very important checks” by burgundy passport holders, significantly specializing in the passport’s challenge and expiry dates.
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The narrator cautioned: “There is a excessive probability the outdated colored paperwork break journey guidelines, so anybody who owns one is urged to make very important checks nicely prematurely. The 2 most necessary particulars to examine are your passport’s challenge date and expiry date.”
For journey to the European Union (EU), passports should be underneath 10 years outdated on the day of entry, and will have a minimal validity of three months out of your supposed departure date.
Earlier than 2018, passports may truly be legitimate for as much as 10 years and 9 months. It’s because in case your outdated passport expired in August however you renewed it in March, the remaining months can be added to your new passport, supplying you with 10 years and 5 months as an alternative of simply 10 years.
This apply led to 2018, however you probably have a passport issued in 2016 or 2017, you may want to ensure it is nonetheless legitimate. For instance, in case your passport was issued in March 2016 and expires in August 2026, you would possibly assume you are legitimate to journey on it now, as you continue to have over three months till it expires, however you’ll be denied entry into the EU as a result of your passport is over 10 years outdated.
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The TikTok creator defined: “When you would possibly nonetheless have loads of time left earlier than the expiry date, it’s extra prone to be over 10 years outdated and subsequently invalid for EU journey. If you happen to’re going overseas, it is all the time finest to simply rapidly Google the passport guidelines for [the country you’re visiting].
“Brits happening their holidays proceed to be caught out by the principles, as analysis discovered that fewer than 50% of individuals are conscious of the 10-year cut-off earlier than 2018.”
This challenge primarily impacts these with burgundy passports, as anybody with a blue passport can have acquired it in 2020 or later, guaranteeing it falls throughout the legitimate date vary since grownup passports are issued for precisely 10 years.
Nonetheless, dad and mom ought to observe that even when their kids have blue passports, they need to nonetheless examine their validity, as kids’s passports are sometimes legitimate for less than 5 years.
Holidaymakers heading to the EU must also pay attention to the brand new Entry/Exit System (EES), which started in October 2025 and altered necessities for British residents travelling to the Schengen space.
In case you are travelling to a Schengen nation – which incorporates most of Europe besides the Republic of Eire and Cyprus – for a brief keep utilizing a UK passport, you might be required to register your biometric information, equivalent to fingerprints, upon arrival. You do not want to take any motion earlier than you arrive on the border, and there’s no value for EES registration.
This course of replaces the present system of manually stamping passports when guests arrive within the EU, however it could take every passenger longer to finish, so holidaymakers must be ready to attend longer than regular on the border.
For extra info on EES and different journey guidelines, go to the Gov.uk web site.
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