Brits with red version of passport issued warning before heading on holiday

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Brits who still have a red passport have been issued a warning before they head on holiday.

Holidaymakers are being warned to check the expiry date on their documents before heading away this summer.

Many could find that it is no longer valid – even if they still have months left on it.

Even though Brits need just three months left on their passport to travel to Europe, new rules introduced no longer accept the additional 10 months that could previously be added.

This means passports with any additional months on top of the 10 years are not valid.

Blue passports have only been issued since 2020, so people with a navy document won't have to check their passport dates.

Travel company Hays warned on social media: "If your passport was issued prior to the UK leaving the EU with additional months on, those extra months are no longer valid."

The government website confirms: “Your passport must also be less than ten-years-old on the day after you leave.

"If you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired, extra months may have been added to its expiry date.

"Any extra months on your passport over ten years may not count towards the minimum period needed.”

According to The Sun, passenger Abi Campbell was stopped from boarding her flight back earlier this year from to Glasgow from Tenerife after thinking her passport was valid.

Although it expired in May 2022, the issue date was August 2011 – meaning it is only valid up to August 2021.

The government has also warned that some Brits are currently waiting up to 10 weeks to get a new passport, up from the usual three.

Mobile reminders have been sent to Brits by the government, saying: "Reminder: It takes up to 10 weeks to get a new passport. Don't leave it too late, renew now."

This means that holidaymakers who want to go away, but have to renew their passport, may have to wait until the end of October before getting them back.

Traveller Claire Mochar, who applied on July 16, told the Telegraph she had to cancel their holiday due to the "shambles" as their application hadn't even been processed three weeks later.

The government's Fast Track service is also currently under high demand, meaning families are struggling to get appointments.

The government sat the slow process is due to both a surge in applications and many staff still working from home means that the delays are likely to continue.

A backlog of 400,000 passports was reported last summer, after more than a million passports expired during the lockdown.

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