The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) is urging people planning trips to Europe to ensure their passports are valid before the Easter holidays.
This advice comes as many travelers are still being affected by changes to passport rules for British citizens that have been in place for over four years. Despite the rule change, people are still being turned away at airports due to invalid passports, ABTA has warned.
British passport holders traveling to the Schengen area, which includes EU countries (excluding Ireland) as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City, must meet two passport validity requirements. These rules are independent of each other.
First, travelers must check the issue date of their passport to ensure it is no more than 10 years old when they enter the country. Second, they must verify that their passport has at least three months of validity remaining when they return to the UK.
