How do I know which countries my passport is valid in?

Q I plan on booking a trip to Peru in November 2022. My passport expires on 11 September 2023. But the date of issue is 11 December 2022. The rules state that it needs to have at least six months of validity to travel to Peru. But is this six months from the expiry date? Or does this mean from the issue date? If it is the expiry date then I will have more than six months’ validity. But if it is from the issue date then I will need to renew my passport. The advice on the government websites is a little confusing. I wonder if you might be able to help me?

Lisa H-T

A First, a trip to Peru in November sounds fabulous and I commend your timing. I bet you have got a good deal, too, because the 11th month of the year is low season everywhere. Next, I am glad to say your passport is good for arriving in Peru up to and including 11 March 2023 for a stay of 90 days. But I am annoyed on your behalf that you should be experiencing these concerns. They stem from shockingly bad communication by the UK government about the validity of British passports after Brexit – exacerbated by nonsense spouted by some travel firms and, regrettably, sections of the media.

The issue date of your passport is irrelevant for Peru, as well as for every other country in Latin America, the US, Canada, Turkey, Egypt, the rest of Africa, Asia and Australasia. It is significant only for travel to the European Union and the wider Schengen area (Switzerland, Iceland and Norway and some small states). Since the UK asked for its citizens to be treated as third-country nationals, the EU (plus hangers-on) do not accept British passports that are, on the day of entry, 10 years old or more. There is a second condition – but this one, like every other validity test for every other country in the world, it is purely concerned about your passport expiry date. The EU wants at least three months remaining on the day the traveller intends to leave.

So please ignore alarming but untrue assertions such as: “For practical purposes, your passport runs out nine years and nine months after the date it was issued.” Here’s a correct assertion: “For practical purposes, your passport runs out on its expiry date, but some countries demand that you have a period of validity left.” That’s all.

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Q British Airways has cancelled our flight to Toulouse on 15 July but the return journey is going ahead. We booked a package through them. The “manage my booking” app isn’t allowing us to amend or cancel. We have been trying since 10am this morning to contact BA but they aren’t responding via calls or social media.

This trip included a flight from Leeds to Heathrow where we’ve already been informed we cannot get a refund. Do you know where we stand or what we can do next?

Rachel W

A Your experience is unfortunate, but time (two-and-a-half months) is very much on your side – as is the fact that you booked a proper package holiday to the lovely southwestern French city of Toulouse. You are covered by two sets of legislation: the Package Travel Regulations, which basically says you are entitled either to the holiday as booked or a full refund, and the air passengers’ rights rules which state that British Airways must find an alternative flight for you on your original day of travel if it possibly can. I surmise that you want to go ahead with your trip, not least because you seem to have booked a separate Flybe flight from Leeds Bradford to Heathrow.

It looks like you were booked on the early flight from London Heathrow, which has been grounded on 15 July. There are, though, seats currently available on the 2pm departure and that is what BA should rebook you on. It is regrettable that you can’t get through and I hope that on Tuesday, after the bank holiday weekend, you are able to speak to someone and get moved onto the early afternoon flight. This will be annoying because you will lose half a day of your trip, but British Airways is entitled to make such a change without compensation since well over two weeks’ notice was given.

There is a chance that by the time you finally manage to get through to someone all the seats on that 2pm flight will have gone and only the evening departure – losing you the entire first day – is available. In that case, you may opt for a full refund. The investment in the Leeds Bradford to London Heathrow flight is annoying and had you wrapped this element into your package (which would have been possible through a good travel agent) then it would be easy to get a refund. I suggest you bear this in mind for your next trip.

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Q My passport is full of stamps and I have no spare pages left. Will I be turned away?

Maggie B

A That all depends on where you are going. Many countries insist that you have at least one empty page in your passport – either to affix a visa or simply to stamp you in and out. South Africa even requires you to have two blank pages. The best starting point is to search online for “Foreign Office” plus the name of your destination country to find the latest FCDO travel advice. If there is such a condition, it should be mentioned in the Entry Requirements section. If, though, your question is about post-Brexit travel to the European Union, then there is no need to worry.

Since the UK chose to leave, your passport is stamped in and out each time you enter and leave, and if you are a frequent visitor to the EU it can fill up quickly. But the EU’s Practical Handbook for Border Guards is explicit about a “document enabling a third-country national to cross the border [that] is no longer suitable for affixing a stamp, as there are no longer available pages”.

The handbook specifies what should happen in such cases: “The third-country national should be recommended to apply for a new passport so that stamps can continue to be affixed there in the future. However, as an exception – and particularly in the case of regular cross-border commuters – a separate sheet can be used, to which further stamps can be affixed. The sheet must be given to the third-country national. In any case, the lack of empty pages in a passport is not, in itself, a valid and sufficient ground to refuse the entry of a person.”

So ignore misinformation on the subject – such as the warning from Eurostar to British passport holders: “Check that you have a clear page in your passport as it will need to be stamped with your travel date when you’re travelling to and from the EU.” For anyone travelling widely in Europe and beyond, the real problem will be that the accrued entry and exit stamps for the EU will rapidly fill up the passport – leaving insufficient space to satisfy frontier officials in other countries.

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