How can I avoid the passport chaos sparked by post-Brexit rule change? Ask travel expert Simon Calder anything

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The guidelines on passport validity for British guests to the European Union have tightened since Brexit.

And now, Home Office figures obtained by the BBC counsel as many as 32 million may very well be caught out.

When the UK left the European Union, British travellers turn into “third-country nationals”, in step with residents from dozens of different international locations together with Venezuela and Samoa.

EU nations don’t enable such travellers to enter on a passport issued over 10 years in the past. The similar applies in the wider Schengen Area, together with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. UK guests to Ireland usually are not topic to the restriction.

The Passport Office’s pre-Brexit coverage was to concern British travel paperwork legitimate for as much as 10 years and 9 months, taking account of the unspent time on a earlier passport.

While this beforehand posed no issues, it’s beginning to have an effect on some British holidaymakers travelling to the EU.

On a typical day, I calculate 200 outbound travellers are prevented from departing due to EU guidelines on concern and expiry dates.

So, how can you be sure you’re not stopped at examine in? Do it’s essential renew now? And when is the finest time to submit your utility?

I can be available from 4pm GMT, on Wednesday 27 March to reply all of your passport questions in an ‘Ask Me Anything’ occasion. I can be answering reside in the feedback part beneath.

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