IF you’re looking to book your next holiday, there are a number of passport checks you should make first.
Brits who book a holiday only to need a new passport will find themselves with a new passport number, potentially causing problems with the flights.
We’ve explained three of the passport checks you need to make before booking[/caption]
Check your pages as well as some countries need them to be empty[/caption]
So there are a number of checks to make first.
First up – and one of the most important – is checking the start date of your passport.
It is thought that as many as 32 million people still have the old burgundy passports, which means your expiry date might not match your start date.
The new rules no longer allow this, so your expiry date might be ‘incorrect’ by as much as nine months.
Passports are now only valid for 10 years from the start date – so make sure to check this.
And don’t forget to take away a few more months as well, with up to six months left on passports required by a number of countries.
European countries require at least three months left, while Egypt and Thailand require six months.
Brits should also check how much space they have left in their passport.
With European countries now having to stamp passports on entry and exit, it means the pages can quickly fill up.
But some countries require as much as two free pages to be allowed to enter, such as the Bahamas, Cuba and Indonesia.
Just a few countries even need three blank pages, which is Zambia and Madagascar.
Heading to Brunei? You need a whopping six blank pages in your passport.
If you are someone who travels a lot, it might even be worth paying extra for a “larger” passport that has more pages.
Costing £12 extra, the jumbo passports have 54 pages rather than 34 pages.
And finally, check your passport for any damage, even if it seems minor.
Small tears, water damage or pen marks can all render your passport invalid, which will see you stopped at the border.
Passport Rules
Everything you need to know about passports
- Whether you need a passport to fly within the UK
- This is who can countersign a passport application
- How long a child’s first passport can last and cost
- A biometric passport explained
- How to renew a passport
- How to get fast-track passport renewal
- The new blue British passports explained
- Why passports come in four colours
The strictest countries are Bali and Vietnam, with a number of tourists banned from their flights.
Just last year, a woman was left £1,000 out of pocket after being stopped from her Bali flight because of small passport damage.
Follow all the rules and your holiday will be smooth[/caption]
