Foreign Office updates EU and Spain passport rules ahead of Europa League Final

Foreign Office travel advice has been updated for 33 countries to clarify passport rules for UK holidaymakers including EU holiday hotspots like Spain, Portugal, France and Greece.

The update comes after thousands of UK holidaymakers have been caught out by post Brexit rules - due to recent confusion, the FCDO issued a clarification of the passport validity rules.

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Countries in the Schengen Area require your passport to be no more than 10 years old from the point of issue - but most EU countries also require your passport to be valid for at least three months after your date of travel.

The update comes as thousands of football fans are expected to travel to Spain to see Rangers take on Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final.

Travellers heading to the airport to catch a flight this week should check the validity of their passport to avoid being turned away at the gate.

The new advice reads: "If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must follow the Schengen area passport requirements.

"Your passport must be:

• issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the ‘date of issue’)
• valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

"You must check your passport meets these requirements before you travel. If your passport was issued before 1 October 2018, extra months may have been added to its expiry date.

"Contact the embassy of the country you are visiting if you think that your passport does not meet both these requirements. Renew your passport if you need to."

Countries with updated travel advice

1. Andorra
2. Austria
3. Belgium
4. Bulgaria
5. Croatia
6. Cyprus
7. Czech Republic
8. Denmark
9. Estonia
10. Finland
11. France
12. Germany
13. Greece
14. Hungary
15. Iceland
16. Italy
17. Latvia
18. Liechtenstein
19. Lithuania
20. Luxembourg
21. Malta
22. Monaco
23. Netherlands
24. Norway
25. Poland
26. Portugal
27. Romania
28. San Marino
29. Slovakia
30. Slovenia
31. Spain
32. Sweden
33. Switzerland

Always check the latest Foreign Office travel advice for a destination before booking or going a trip, as this includes plenty more important information including Covid entry requirements and local rules you need to know.

You can also find out more about passport rules in Europe on gov.uk/guidance/passport-rules-for-travel-to-europe.