26/04/2022
PASSPORTS are in the news today
1) There a long delays in getting new or renewing UK Passports.
2) If you are travelling to a Schengen Area Country* you need to look very carefully at the ISSUE date of your passport.
If it is more than ten years ago, you will not be allowed in even if it has not expired. If your passport expires more than ten years after the ISSUE date, Schengen Area Countries ignore
the extra validity.
IN ADDITION while the FCDO advice is that you need at least three months left of the original ten years on the day you leave the Schengen Area, we have learnt that some border guards in Schengen Area Countries are insisting you have at least six month left of the original ten years.
3) When you enter a Schengen Area Country, the border guards should date-stamp your passport. If they do not, please ask them to do it.
This will avoid potental problems when you leave the Schengen Area because you will need to prove when you first entered.
This is necessary because you are only permited to stay in the Schengen Area for a maximum of 90 days within any 180 day period unless you have a visa.
All these rules apply to UK Passport holders.
*The Schengen Area Countries are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmarkm Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, and Switzerland.
