You'll need six months validity from the date of your return journey. More info HERE

If you're only visiting the Sinai area you WON'T need a visa

Pippy

I take on board what you have said but I don`t think the Tour Operators can make up their own rules.In that case they can then extend the minimum exiry date to what they like.It is not the Tour Operators that make up these rules but the countries from which you are departing and visiting.I have just read the Airtours 2008 brochure and the advice they give is :- Some countries require passports to be valid for a certain period after leaving that country and recommend you check at the time of booking.If you are travelling to an EU destination you may return at any point up to the expiry date.You should note that your passport must be valid both at your date of departure and your date of return.They then give the Passport office telephone number.

I don`t think the Tour Operators can make up their own rules.

Yes, they can. It's entirely up to them to set out their own rules for the carriage of passengers. Despite the SNP doing so well in the elections last week there is no legal requirement that I carry my passport or produce photographic ID for me to gain entry into England but woe betide me if I can't produce it at the check-in desk at Aberdeen or Edinburgh :-)

It is perfectly legitimate for an airline to say that you need at least 6 months left to run on your passport regardless of the laws of entry in your destination country. Most of the time their concern arises not from whether you'll be allowed to enter eg Spain but whether when you come back you'll be allowed to re-enter the UK. On the whole they don't want to take the chance that for some reason your return to the UK might be delayed by illness etc and that your passport runs out before you do return. Yes, of course in such circumstances you're unlikely to be refused entry and immediately deported by the immigration authorities here but it will cause hassle for both you and them if it happens so they prefer to play safe.

Given that you can renew your passport up to 9 months before it runs out and have this time added on to your new passport I can't see what the problem is. I too would always prefer to be better safe than sorry - it means that should I have to travel at short notice then I can be sure that I won't be caught out with a passport that expires in less than 6 months and so making it difficult to enter countries that do have such a requirement.

SM

Hi hillbankdee ... unfortunately tour operators do set their own rules and some stipulate a minimum 6 month passport validity period for all destinations, including Spain, a country which has no such entry/immigration requirement. This is what causes so much confusion for holidymakers.

You have quoted from the Airtours brochure, which does not stipulate a minimum 6 month validity period. However, if you look at THIS page on the My Travel website, it does stipulate a 6 month validity requirement for all destinations. One of those destinations is Spain, which like so many other countries, requires that passports are valid only for the duration of stay in the country. That requirement on the My Travel website forms part of their booking conditions.

So we not only have tour companies stipulating rules which conflict with official immigration requirements, we have different parts of the the same company stiplulating rules which contradict with each other.

As I mentioned earlier, we have had members lose their holiday because the airline/tour operator would not accept their valid passport at check-in as it did not have 6 months validity remaining, despite the fact that the country they were travelling to only required the passport to be valid for the duration of their holiday.

The easy solution is to renew your passport when it only has between 6 and 9 months remaining. But so many holidaymakers understandably and sensibly check passport requirements with the embassy of the country which they are proposing to visit, not realising that their airline or tour operator may impose quite different regulations.

Unfortunately some check in staff do not have the discretion or flexibility to waive this company rule, even when they realise it does not apply to the intended destination.

David

I spoke with Direct Holidays and they said that they have spoken to the Spanish consulate and you are fine with 3 months on your passport....

Thanks for the update kirkie. The Spanish Consulate would have confirmed to Direct Holidays that there is no minimum passport validity requirement for Spain and that passports require to be valid only for the duration of the visit to the country, as stated on THIS page of the Consulate website.

Anything to the contrary, such as a minimum 3 or 6 month validity period, is a requirement of the travel industry but not of the Spanish authorities.

David

Hi all
i think this countersignatory is a pain in the old *****. My son had his first passport this year and we hadn't got anyone to sign it for us. I tried a friend of mine who is in her fifties and is a respectable lady. I sent it in and it was rejected. We had hell of a time trying to think of someone. In the end a manager who knew my husband a little at work did it, thank fully this was accepted. The thing is not everyone know all these kind of professional people. The doctors at our surgery stopped filling in the forms last year. So it can be quite a struggle to get someone.
They reckon there are a lot of passports that are issued have been got with "made up" countersignatories, or made up by crooks how have they got away with that? I thought they had supposed to check, they certainly did with my son's application.

Dawnie-Rob

Hi Dawnie-Rob ... the requirement for the countersignatory to provide his or her own passport details when signing the form is intended to reduce some of the fraudulent applications which had been slipping through. Passport details allow security checks to be made on the countersignatory, which a signature on its own may not do.

The IPS lists quite an extensive collection of acceptable countersignatories (click here), but obviously there has to be a willingness by the individuals concerned to perform the task, provide their own personal details, and take responsibility for forwarding the application, documents, fee, etc.

David

Hi there
When we were applying for the passport we did look at all the people who could sign it, and enquired on the phone to the passport office. Even with the long list there was no one. We still had to really think who we could ask. My husband had to ask a manager at work who he didn't know that well, although worked in the same department for quite some time, but fortunately he did it for us. Filled in his passport details while he was there and we sent it off. Ironically since that time this poor chap has been made redundant due to job cuts, and if we had left it later, I don't know who we would have asked! I didn't fancy having to make an appointment at the dentist and then as she says open wide, oh by the way can you fill in my passport form, and not my tooth!!!!

There are still people getting passports who shouldn't be. My son was previously on our passport, pity there hadn't been a system where if they had been on parents' passport this could have been proof together with his birth certificate, and didn't need a countersignatory. Our passports he was named on had to go with the application.

By the way David, regarding the business with Easyjet and my son's needs if you can recall, I have been on the website and have clicked on the part which reads " needs no assistance" etc. Thanks for the help regarding this matter

Dawnie-Rob

Thanks David and everyone for all your help went back to the topic David and emailed the passport office they replied almost immidiatly and told me that the countersigner has to have known the parents as my nephew is under 16 for at least 2 years so hopefully problem solved once again thank you all so much i dont know what we would have done without all your advice and i hope this helps anyone else in the same situation as we were

nise

Glad you're sorted nise
David

Warning to first-time passport applicants

As from Friday 1st June, first-time adult passport applicants will no longer be able to use the Fast Track one week service, as the Identity and Passport Service introduces face-to-face interviews as part of new identity theft and fraud prevention measures within the passport application process.

The interviews are for passport applicants aged 16 or over who are applying for a passport for the first time. That does not include those who previously held a child passport in their own name, but it does include those who were previously only included on a parent's passport.

The IPS recommends that first time applicants should allow up to 6 weeks, and advises against making travel arrangements until they have received their passport.

David

I sent off for my 3 childrens passports to be renewed 4 weeks ago by first class recorded delivery.

Today I decided to enquire via the passport website on their progress as we are off on holiday on the 7th June.

Their reply was

There is no indication on system, that the office has received any correspondence from you.

.

So I checked online with royal mail tracking service, that came back basically saying the letter had not been delivered as they couldn't trace it.

Now I'm really in a panic, just don't know what to do.

Do I re-apply hoping that I'll get them back in time. If we lost the holiday over this - Would we get a refund - I doubt that.

I'm hoping and praying that there's been a mix up and when I ring the office tomorrow they will say everythings fine and I should recieve then in a few days - Is this just wishful thinking!!

Has anyone else experienced this or similar? Would appreciate any input.

Hi ceriloujo ... hopefully there has been a simple mix up which might be resolved tomorrow. But if the IPS is telling you that there is no record of having received your applications, and Royal Mail is telling you that there is no record of having delivered them, then it is not looking too hopeful. I assume you have checked that no payment has been made from your bank account ??

Technically, you are too late for another postal application, or for the Post Office Check & Send service. There is an alternative Fast Track one week service and also a Premium same day service. These services are by appointment and needless to say, they are costly. But the alternative is losing the holiday. However, the one day or one week is timed from the date of your personal appointment and there is no guarantee that an urgent appointment will be available at your local passport office between now and your scheduled departure date, as the IPS advises to allow up to 2 weeks for an appointment. For more information on urgent applications, please click here.

Some travel insurance policies provide cover and benefits in the event of lost or stolen passports, but this is highly unlikely to apply in the case of a lost or delayed application. The best you might hope for is a goodwill gesture from your tour operator, which might allow you to postpone the holiday if necessary. Was the subject of valid passports discussed during the booking process ?

Good luck, please keep us posted.

David

Well, Spoke to a nice man from the passport office this morning, he said he'd check with the clerk to see if they had arrived and not been noted.

So an agonising 3 hrs later he rings me back, they haven't recieved any application from me.
I told him that I we are due to go on holiday on the 7th June and if I were to get new applications to them by tomorrow what were the chances of them arriving in time.
He said, 'put the reference numbers on the front off the envelope to quicken things up'.
He then rang back 2 mins later and said 'Actually address them personally to me and that if they arrive tomorrow there was a good chance you'll have them back in time' and he would see to it personally.

To have such a nice understanding person at the passport office, knowing that I haven't intentionally left it late to apply, and that Royal Mail have made a mess up I don't have to pay the extra for fast track service, which would have cost £80 per passport.
I am so relieved, I could have quite easliy spoke to a grumpy one who didn't really care.

I'm 95% happy now, holding back the 5% until I have those passports in hand.

Hi ceriloujo ... that is certainly very encouraging. It is possible that had you spoke to someone else, the outcome may have been different. IPS staff are generally very obliging in a crisis, but quite often (as in this case) the problem is not of their making and the situation may be outwith their control. But fingers crossed that everything will work out okay for you and that the passports will be issued on time.

David

Well.....Cutting it fine, but they arrived this morning .
What a relief!!!! we fly tomorrow .

So pleased for you that everything worked out well in the end.

Enjoy your holiday.

Mark

Thanks Mark,
I'm sure we will

Ceri