Not quite SandC as they are stating on yet another page on their website:

http://www.passport.gov.uk/general_travel_tips.asp

When does your passport run out?
Some countries will not let you enter if your passport has less than six months left to run. The rules vary by country. For example, South African immigration officials turn back people with fewer than two blank pages left in their passport.
If your passport is in its last year or is nearly full, you should check the rules of the country you plan to visit before booking any travel. You can ask your travel agent or contact the UK embassy or consulate of the country concerned.

If you need to renew your passport, we will credit your new passport with any time (up to nine months) that was left on the old one.

(Crown Copyright acknowledged)

Confusing or what.

Mark

Thanks for that, Mark.

However, it still seems to be a minefield (as you pointed out earlier in this thread, quite rightly IMHO) because even if the country is happy to allow you to enter if your passport is valid for the duration of your stay e.g. Greece, the airline that you are flying with may have a different policy and refuse you boarding.

I guess the only easy answer is either to check with every possible body/company and take copies of their policy with you when you travel or renew your passport when it has 6 months left on it.

Polly

For those who keep on saying to ask the Passport Office - that is not the solution. The Passport Agency will advise you that some countries require a minimum six months passport validity, and that you should make enquiries with the appropriate Embassy to verify specific requirements for the country which you are visiting.

But if for example you are proposing to visit Spain and you make enquiries with the Spanish Embassy, they will tell you that there is no minimum validity period, and that your passport requires to be valid for the duration of your stay in Spain. The Foreign Office will give you the same advice.

Armed with that information from two official governnent sources, it is highly unlikely that any holidaymaker would ask for a third opinion on the matter from a travel agent or tour operator. And so if the tour operator is applying minimum 6 month passport validity rules which conflict with immigration entry requirements for certain countries, such as Spain, then the onus should be on them to make customers aware, and not just by hiding it in the small print of their T&Cs.

I have mentioned Spain, but that is just one of many countries which have no minimum passport validity requirements and yet some sectors of the travel industry apply their own passport rules and requirements to those countries without making their clients sufficiently aware of the rule before booking, or of any logical reason why they might be applying that rule.

You can't really compare this matter with the issue of jabs for certain countries. Of course the travel industry will advise you on any jabs required if you ask, and hopefully they will actually provide the correct information for the countries concerned. But in the case of passport validity, they are providing information and applying rules which conflict with the official immigration requirements for many countries.

Some say that they have known about this 6 month validity requirement for a long time. But there is no such worldwide legal requirement and so the best that could possibly have been known is that the travel industry is completely inconsistent on this, with some agents and tour operators advising on actual immigration/entry requirements, while others implement their own rules which conflict with those official requirements.

The only thing which the travel industry is consistent on in this matter is their ability to remain constantly inconsistent !!

David

At the end of the day its not up to the travel agent to know how long you the traveller has left on their passport it up to themselves.
I would not book a holiday without making sure all my family's passports were up to date.

At the end of the day its not up to the travel agent to know how long you the traveller has left on their passport it up to themselves.
I would not book a holiday without making sure all my family's passports were up to date

I agree kmba, it should not be up to the travel agent. But the whole point of this thread is that some sectors of the travel industry are deciding and regulating on how long a passport should be valid for, irrespective of what it says on the passport, and irrespective of immigration/entry requirements for various countries as verified by the Foreign Office and individual embassies of the countries concerned.

Some TAs and TOs say 3 months validity required for all countries, some say 6 months for all countries, while the Foreign Office and Embassies say passports require to be valid only for the intended duration of stay in many countries. It makes it very difficult for families to ensure that passports are up to date, when information is so inconsistent, frequently contradicting official passport requirements and often hidden in small print. If the travel industry must make these rules, they need to be consistent, clear and justified.

David

Totally agree David,exactly the point I tried to make.

I think TOs do this simply because as others have said, if you make sure you have at least 6 months left on your passport wherever you go you won't encounter any problems. You don't have to do what the TO says as they may have these 'rules' but they are not enforceable in any way because the TO never has anything to do with your passports (although good independent travel agents will do everything for you including arranging visas etc. where necessary). You can find out for yourself with the country concerned and then decide whether you are going to renew the passport early or not if you don't have long to run on it.

As I've said before, it's something I've been aware of in the past, most probably I visited a country that does have a ruling, read about it, noted it and have applied it as one of those things that probably affects a lot of destinations.

Problem is, as has been said, sometimes a TO will stipulate a certain length of time is necessary left on your passport, but in the case of the OP, nothing was said and there DID happen to be a 6 month ruling for the country her son was going to visit. Thus, I think the tour operators should alert the lead name to check on the requirements of the country they are visiting.

Sand C

My son is going to Crete who do not have any entry/immigration rules; it is the T.O's ruling that they have six months on their passports when they return.

Rgds Jackie

I was referring to Snooky, the original poster - they found out by chance that for Turkey they needed their passports to have 6 months remaining on them and one sons was due to expire in August. In that case the TO hadn't said anything, which was her reason for starting the thread as a warning.

Sand C

Sorry, thought you was referring to my son who I had mentioned in an earlier post.

Rgds Jackie

I'm always getting confused over who said what, when, how.

jackie UK tenerife

I said it is common procedure I never said it was the law. I have read the posts correctly like I read the entry requirements and small print correctly. Perhaps if everyone did that then we would all know the different coutries and companies have different rules.

Pink Butterfly

I am not going to get into a slanging match with you over this but the point is the different ruling (no one mentioned law) that the T.O's have on this, not wether people read the small print or not.

And with regards to the small print as I mentioned before I personally never have any to read because we always go DIY. As far as I was concerned my passport is valid until the expiry date so if no-one informs me of the six month rule, be it the T.O's, Passport office or the like, how am I supposed to know about it? I know, perhaps I'm phsycic.

SandC wrote:

You don't have to do what the TO says as they may have these 'rules' but they are not enforceable in any way because the TO never has anything to do with your passports

Please remember though that if you were to read the topic I linked to in my very first reply, the tour operator insisted the customer change their holiday at their expense following this passport rule.

Mark

SandC wrote:
You don't have to do what the TO says as they may have these 'rules' but they are not enforceable in any way because the TO never has anything to do with your passports

With respect that is incorrect. Any supplier is entitled to apply conditions for the supply of their services. T&Cs

You either abide by them or they can refuse to supply the services. Yes they are open to legal challenge as being unreasonable - but who is going to go to that extent. There is also the possibility that a court, having listened to an explanation from them, could find against you.

Sorry to be going off topic but then this whole subject is drifting anyway.

fwh

Yes, I get what you are saying, but if you have found out the exact position for the country you are travelling to and your passport is fine for that travel the TO isn't going to do anything about that. They don't check your passports do they? They are covering themselves and you so that if you don't find out what the requirements are for the country you are visiting and you have ignored the TO advice to have 6 months left on your passport then you can't have a comeback on them for it.

I also agree with others though that they should clearly state when you book a holiday that you should check that your passport is fully valid for the country you are booking, rather than give a blanket 'catch all' statement on their validity. Nobody is going to stop you going on a plane to, say Cyprus (as they don't have any specific requirements other than it being valid for the trip) if you don't have 6 months left on your passport even if that's what your TO told you that you must have.

Pink Butterfly

I am not going to get into a slanging match with you over this but the point is the different ruling (no one mentioned law) that the T.O's have on this, not wether people read the small print or not.

And with regards to the small print as I mentioned before I personally never have any to read because we always go DIY. As far as I was concerned my passport is valid until the expiry date so if no-one informs me of the six month rule, be it the T.O's, Passport office or the like, how am I supposed to know about it? I know, perhaps I'm phsycic.

Wheather you go diy or not you still have small print and t&c and it is up to you to make sure all is okay with your passport.
If you have an attitude like that one of these days you will become un stuck .
Your passport could run out when you are on holiday and you would not be able to travel home.

Wheather you go diy or not you still have small print and t&c and it is up to you to make sure all is okay with your passport

Perhaps the whole point of this discussion is being missed here.

DIY EXAMPLE

I fly to Barbados with Virgin Atlantic staying at a hotel that I have booked direct. Barbados imigration and Virgin Atlantic do not require a passport to have validity beyond the return date. The 6 month passport rule does not affect me

TOUR OPERATOR EXAMPLE

I fly to Barbados with Virgin Atlantic staying at a hotel. Both these components have been booked as a package with a Tour Operator. Barbados imigration and Virgin Atlantic do not require a passport to have validity beyond the return date. The 6 monts passport rule does affect me only because I booked with a Tour Operator

On both occasions my passport is perfectly OK as far as I'm concerned as otherwise I wouldn't be able to enter Barbados if I choose the DIY option.

Mark

What do I need to check about my passport?
The name(s) and initials on your flight tickets must exactly match those on your passport.

For travel to most countries, a British passport must remain valid for at least 6 months after your scheduled return to the UK. Some countries apply different rules: contact the Embassy of your destination country for current information.

Your passport and travel documents must be intact: you may not be able to travel if they are damaged or have been tampered with. If you have any doubts about the validity or condition of your passport, please contact the Passport Adviceline on 0870 521 0410 or visit the Passport Service website