Why you should check your passport before traveling and what to look for
When preparing for a dream vacation, most people may forget about some important things, such as checking their passport before departure. Travel experts advise UK travelers to periodically look at their documents to keep track of their passport's expiration date.
Checking the validity of your passport is a particularly important procedure, as documents with a validity of less than 3 or 6 months are not accepted in most countries. Which countries will UK citizens be able to travel to even if their passport is within the maximum allowable period? The Daily Record found out.
Different countries have their own rules for the validity of passports. In particular, a passport is usually valid for 5-10 years, but if there are 3 to 6 months left before the expiration date, most countries may prohibit entry to their territory.
Countries that require a passport to be valid for 3 months:
- Andorra
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Republic of Cyprus
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Italy
- Malta
- Monaco
- Portugal
- Spain
Countries that require the passport to be valid for 6 months from the date of arrival:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Brazil
- Cambodia
- China
- Colombia
- Dominican Republic
- Egypt
- Fiji
- Indonesia
- Kenya
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Peru
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
Countries that require the passport to be valid only until the day of departure/departure from the country:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Barbados
- Chile
- Gibraltar
- Ireland
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Tunisia
- Saint Lucia
- USA
- Canada.
It is worth noting that Canada allows entry for UK citizens with a shorter validity period, but it may take longer to go through immigration.
