UK holidaymakers planning to travel to some countries in Europe should be aware of a certain passport rule as missing it may ruin your holiday.
While it is well known that anyone travelling must have a passport that has not expired, it must also have been issued within a certain date of travel for some countries.
For countries in the Schengen Area, a passport should be valid for at least three months prior to the travel date, but it must also have been issued less than 10 years before the date of departure, the Liverpool Echo reports.
This little-known rule can catch out holidaymakers as they may think a passport that is not due to expire is completely valid.
However, if your passport has been issued over 10 years before the planned travel date, you may be denied entry to some European countries.
This rule is part of the Schengen Area passport requirements, which travellers must follow to gain entry into 27 countries.
You can check your issue date in your passport, as it will be under 'date of issue'. If your passport was issued before October 1, 2018, extra months may have been added to its expiry date, but these months will not be valid for people entering the Schengen Area.
It's also worth checking on the Foreign Office's website to make sure you meet the entry requirements of the destination country before booking your trip.
Schengen Area countries
The total list of Schengen Area countries include:
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
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