Yipee the world is open for travel, more countries are welcoming vaccinated and non-vaccinated visitors.
Although travel is back its not without some new rules, restrictions and changes. For example did you know that If your passport was issued prior to the Uk leaving the European Union with extra months over the 10 years then those extra months are no longer valid.
Many airlines are not accepting passports with certain validity periods. It is common practice that passports renewed before their expiry date have the new passport issued to include the extra unexpired period from the previous passport, thereby making them valid for more than 10 years.
For example: if you applied for a passport due to expire 1 September 2012 and you apply early and your passport is issued on 1st April 2012 you may have received the extra 5 months from your old passport on your current passport. This would mean your current passport will read an expiry date of 1st September 2022.
The restrictions being applied count the 10 year validity from issue date rather than expiry date so in the above dates example your passport to travel with certain airlines is deemed expired from the 1st April 2022. Passengers have been turned away from boarding because although you have 5 months left of validity on your passport, they calculated from issue date rather than expiry date and it did not comply with their rules. Check up online for the specific rules for your airline if its likely this might be a problem for you.
HOW TO GET RENEW YOUR PASSPORT FASTER WITH THE UK PASSPORT OFFICE PREMIUM SERVICE
Currently due to high demand there is high passport delays with some taking as long as 3 months or more to be issued. If you need to renew your passport faster I highly recommend you use the Online Premium Service from the uk government website linked here: https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently/online-premium-service.
Depending on the area you are in or can attend you may get an appointment in as little as under a week. The great benefit is that you can apply, pay and book your passport collection date appointment online.
The premium passport fee current cost as time of writing is £177 (or £187 for a 50 page frequent traveller passport).*
You can only use Online Premium to renew an adult passport that was issued after 31 December 2001
To use the Online Premium service you’ll need:
Once on this page you will be asked questions to ensure you are eligible to make this application renewal online. The application process involves selecting a passport office, date and time to collect your new passport. Currently there are 7 Passport Office’s in the United Kingdom. They are located in Belfast, Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport and Peterborough. If your area has no availability you are able to choose another area but ensure you can get there on the dates and times available. Once you complete your application upload your pictures and make your payment you are all set with the date to pick up your passport as per your chosen timeslot at booking.
To collect your new passport they will ask you to bring your old passport. .You can ask someone else to go to your appointment for you. They will need to bring:
Due to high demand the premium service does sometimes have no availability but they add new appointments daily so I recommend checking daily. The passport office page will have a message notifying you of this.
As we are nearing the summer holidays and many families want to get away I highly recommend you check your passport validity and not leave this matter last minute.
If you found this information useful or additional information to share please do so in the comment section below. Think this information might be useful for someone please share and remember we will be posting updates, tips and recommendations Friday weekly. Don’t forget to stop by shop for travel accessories and goods.
In the meantime, happy travelling.
