Slovenia’s Ministry of the Interior has warned more than 10,000 Slovenians to renew their passports before September if they want to travel abroad this summer.
The call from Slovenian authorities comes as by the end of June alone, a total of 3,134 passports are set to expire, a total of 6,348 in July and 4,325 in August, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“When planning trips and summer vacations, we advise you to check in good time whether you have a suitable and valid identity document for the trip. If the validity of the document has already expired or will soon expire, submit a timely application for the issuance of a new one,” the statement published by the same Ministry reads.
In addition, it has been revealed that this month the validity of 8,926 identity cards will cease, while the number is expected to increase in July with 20,179 identity cards set to expire. The Ministry noted that based on the estimations, in August 12,448 identity cards will become invalid.
The figures of the government of Slovenia also show that in September, the number of passports that will no longer be considered valid is 3,823, in October the number is set to reach 3,753, followed by November with 2,833 passports set to expire, and in December 3,033.
As for identity cards, the number of such documents set to cease for a period from September until December this year is:
- September 8,054
- October 7,828
- November 6,597
- December 8,893
Through a statement, the government of Slovenia has announced that by the end of this year over 27,000 passports and nearly 73,000 identity cards will no longer be valid.
At present, 667,507 Slovenians hold a valid passports, and 1,837,086 citizens have a valid identity card.
By holding a valid identity card, Slovenians are eligible to travel to a large number of countries without being subject to additional requirements.
The Identity Card allows citizens of Slovenia to visit all the European Union countries for up to 90 days, as well as other countries in Europe such as European Economic Area territories or more specifically Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein and other countries such as Switzerland, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, among others.
In order to visit other territories, Slovenians are required to hold a valid passport, the government clarifies.
“Certain countries require the passport to be valid for at least half a year or more when entering their territory. Citizens are therefore advised to inquire in good time about the special conditions of entry into these countries at travel agencies, websites, or diplomatic and consular missions of foreign countries, especially when travelling to countries with a visa regime,” the statement reads.
Due to the fact that Slovenia is part of the EU’s borderless area of Schengen, it also permits all EU and EEA nationals to reach this Balkan country by only holding a valid identity card or a passport.
At the same time, citizens from countries that are subject to a visa when planning to enter a Schengen State automatically need a visa in order to visit Slovenia.