After almost two years where travel restrictions made it almost impossible to plan an overseas holiday, more and more people are now taking the opportunity to jump on a plane and head for sunnier climes.
Many of those are heading for traditionally popular destinations such as Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal but some have fallen foul of the fact that the rules around travel to the European Union have changed during the course of the pandemic as a result of Brexit.
Previously, when the UK was part of the EU, the rules in regards to passports were relatively simple in that you would need to ensure that your passport was valid for travel in the are up to the date of expiry.
However, the decision to leave the EU means that people from the UK no longer have that luxury, with anyone holding a British passport now becoming what is known as a third country nation traveller.
That means there are no limits on how long you can spend in the EU at any one time, whilst there are also certain stipulations in place when it comes to the expiry date and - crucially - the issue date on your passport.
The latter is particularly important because of the fact that up until 2018, anyone renewing a British passport could get up to nine months extra added on from the passport they were replacing - meaning a ten year passport could run for ten years and nine months.
However, those extra months were only valid whilst the UK was part of the European Union and this is the fact that is catching out some people who are now travelling on older passports and who are suddenly discovering they are no longer valid - even though the displayed dates would suggest that they are.
In short, in order to travel to the EU, a passport must have been issued within the previous ten years so if your passport was issued more than ten years ago then it is not valid for travel - even if it still have time left before the stated expiry date.
As an example, you may have a passport that was issued on the 1 August 2012 and has an expiry date that runs into mid-2023, but it could not be used to enter the EU beyond 1 August 2022.
Even then, you would need to ensure that there is at least three months remaining on the date you intend to leave the EU country that you are visiting - and you should always check in advance to ensure that you don’t need in excess of three months remaining.
Should you need to purchase a new passport, there is currently huge demand on the service from those people who didn’t renew their documents during the pandemic when they were unable to travel.
That means there is the potential for delay to applications, although the 'vast majority' are being turned around within a ten week period.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your passport is valid for your trip and if you are blocked from travelling as a result of incorrect documentation, it is unlikely you will be able to claim a refund.
Should you be planning a longer trip to the EU, you should also note that you can now only stay for a maximum of 90 days in any 180 day period.