A British holidaymaker was forced to travel a whopping 1,000 miles on her birthday and fork out £400 in a bid to save her £1,200 holiday.
Carolyn Pellatt,57, was gearing up for her Norwegian cruise holiday when she made the horrific realisation that her passport did not conform to the post-Brexit rules.
Since leaving the European Union, Brits must adhere to two separate passport conditions. One depends on the issue date of your passport, the other the expiry date.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, renowned travel expert Simon Calder said: “The issue date cannot be more than 10 years after the date you intend to enter the EU, if it’s had its tenth birthday you can’t come in.
“On the day you intend you must have at least three months remaining on your passport, so there are now two tests.”
After checking her passport validity five days before her trip – on June 26, 2023 – Carolyn noticed that while the expiry date was fine, the ‘valid from’ date was too late under the new post-Brexit rules.
Upon her realisation, a panicked Carolyn “didn’t know who to turn to”.
In an attempt to save her holiday Carolyn, who lives in Southampton, booked an emergency passport appointment; the only appointment available in the UK was in Glasgow.
Speaking to Express.co.uk Carolyn said: “I went to my local post office and they said it had run out. Here, I had my photo taken.
“Then I looked at where I could get a passport and the only place in the whole week was Glasgow.
“It cost £200 to get to Glasgow on my birthday. I left at 5.30am on June 29, 2023, and got back at 00.30 am. I was in Glasgow for about three and a half hours.
“The emergency passport cost £200 so in total I paid £400. It was very stressful. It would have been really upsetting if I couldn’t go on holiday with my mum and daughter
“At the passport office, they said they have had people turn up who they have had to turn away. It’s happening quite often.
“Luckily all my trains ran on time because I literally had a two-hour window before my appointment at the passport office.”
Despite her stressful week, Carolyn made the cruise on July 1, 2023 and had a “fabulous holiday in the end”.
However, the 57-year-old believes the relatively new passport regulations “haven’t been discussed that much”.
Mr Calder admitted there has “been quite a lot of confusion spread on what the rules actually are” despite the new rule coming into place over three years ago.
He said: “The passport rule change was all tied up in the horrible Covid business. This rule came into play in 2021 but this came at the same time we were banned from going on holiday.”
Confused.com also found that around 1 in 5 (21 percent) Brits have had to get their passport renewed within a few weeks of travelling.
In a bid to curb the uncertainty, Confused.com has launched a new tool to help travellers navigate these often tricky requirements.
The online calculator allows users to select their destination country and input their passport’s expiration date. It will then instantly provide information on whether their passport meets the necessary validity criteria.
You can view Confused.com’s passport checker here.