Passport renewal changes

[mike]

The 9-month window to renew passports without losing the unexpired portion has been withdrawn - already, and without notice.

Until now, the Passport Office has granted up to nine months of extra validity for British passports renewed ahead of the expiry date.

A traveller whose passport is due to expire on 1 June 2019 could renew on 1 September 2018 and get a new document valid until 1 June 2029.

But starting this week, the long-established practice of crediting a new passport with unexpired time from the old passport has been dropped.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/passports-brexit-stealth-change-renewal-rules-martin-lewis-a8535346.html

The 6-month passport validity required by many non-EU countries will mean having to renew and losing the remaining time on the passport.

Mike

[swill453]

The nine month window also allowed you to renew at a time of your convenience, taking holiday dates into account. Now you're going to have to do it in advance and lose some validity.

It's a scandal! Especially as it has been slipped in unannounced.

Scott.

[swill453]

There's now an explanation for this change:

After 29 March 2019, if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal, Brits will be considered 'third country nationals' under rules used in the Schengen area - an area made up of 26 European countries that have officially abolished passport and all other types of border control at their borders.

Being 'third country nationals' means we will need to comply with different rules to enter and travel around the Schengen area.

According to the Schengen Border Code, if you are from a 'third country', you need to have a passport issued in the last 10 years in order to travel to a Schengen country - and under the old rules, where time left on your passport was added to your new one, not everyone with a valid UK passport would have had their passport issued within the past ten years.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... han-expec/

So - Brexit then.

Scott.

[Watis]

There's now an explanation for this change:

After 29 March 2019, if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal, Brits will be considered 'third country nationals' under rules used in the Schengen area - an area made up of 26 European countries that have officially abolished passport and all other types of border control at their borders.

Being 'third country nationals' means we will need to comply with different rules to enter and travel around the Schengen area.

According to the Schengen Border Code, if you are from a 'third country', you need to have a passport issued in the last 10 years in order to travel to a Schengen country - and under the old rules, where time left on your passport was added to your new one, not everyone with a valid UK passport would have had their passport issued within the past ten years.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... han-expec/

So - Brexit then.

Scott.

There is a window between 29th June and 10th September where those nine months will have been added to a new passport, which will fall foul of the rule after 29th March 2029.

But, rather than doing away with the time extension, why not just issue passports between now and 29th March 2019 to expire on 29th March 2029, with an ever-shortening extension so no-one will fall foul of the Schengen Border Code, yet the extension is not lost suddenly and without warning?

Watis

[swill453]

There is a window between 29th June and 10th September where those nine months will have been added to a new passport, which will fall foul of the rule after 29th March 2029.

I guess the official answer to that will be - Tough, get a new one then.

In fact we'll all have to get used to renewing prior to 6 months from expiry anyway, to be able to visit those (many) countries who insist on having that much left before they let anyone in.

Scott.

[mike]

But, rather than doing away with the time extension, why not just issue passports between now and 29th March 2019 to expire on 29th March 2029, with an ever-shortening extension so no-one will fall foul of the Schengen Border Code, yet the extension is not lost suddenly and without warning?

If 6 months' worth of passports were all due to expire on 29 March 2019, combined with the withdrawal of being able to renew ahead of time, the workload at the Passport Office in the weeks leading up to that date for re-renewal (is that a word?) would be well above normal and probably cause unacceptable delays.

Mike