The new year that started yesterday will be the first in over forty years that UK residents will need to know anything about rules for traveling to and from Europe, and it appears that the UK government hasn’t got it all down either.
The Independent (UK) reports that government web pages give three different versions of what British travelers need to know.
One site, online since 2014, gives the correct rule for travelers from outside the Schengen border-free area: Passports must be valid for at least three months past the travelers’ intended date of departure. That was inconsequential for British travelers who had, as Europeans, freedom of travel within the EU.
But the government’s Brexit travel information page says that there must be six months left, potentially disrupting travel for anyone relying on the old—and correct—information. But airlines are split on which rule they are enforcing, and passengers with three months but not six left would be turned away by British Airways, EasyJet and TUI; those passengers would be entitled to hundreds of pounds in compensation. Ryanair, on the other hand, is following the three-month rule.
Another slightly sticky: UK passports renewed early are dated with credit for up to nine months remaining on the old passport, but the EU has a rule that no passport can be valid for more than ten years. It is possible, therefore, for a UK passport with nine months to go to be turned down by the EU as expired.
One prominent Briton who’s planning not to get caught in all that is Stanley Johnson, father of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has applied for a French passport. Unlike his son, the elder Johnson opposed Brexit. He told the RTL news service, speaking in French, that “It’s not a matter of becoming French. If I’ve understood correctly, I am French. My mother was born in France, her mother was entirely French and her grandfather too. So for me it’s a question of reclaiming what I already have.” He added, “I will always be European.”
As a British traveller before, during and after the European Union we have always had to show our Passport when crossing into Europe. Somedays they look hard at our paperwork. Some days just wave us through with our Passport on show.