Martin Lewis has issued a passport warning for all citizens of the United Kingdom who plan on reaching popular EU destinations this summer.
Lewis warned everyone to check all of their travel documents, their passports and European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC), as soon as possible and ensure that they are valid before making any plans to travel to the EU, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Speaking on the Martin Lewis Money Show Live, Lewis said that Brits need to make “two key checks” on their passports, the Mirror explains.
According to Lewis, all British holidaymakers planning to head to France, Greece, Italy, Spain and other hotspots in the next months need to check whether their passport is under ten years old on the date of entry to an EU country as often they cannot travel on that document.
“The first one, you need to check it is under ten years old on the day you enter the country. People get caught out by that; that is a common condition. Some British passports are over ten years old, and they’re still valid, but you often can’t travel on that,” Lewis explained.
He further stressed that the validity of a passport needs to be checked for many countries, and at the same time, highlighted that since Brexit, the EU countries require three months’ validity and under ten years old passports.
This means that everyone must make sure that their passport will be valid for at least another three months left from the day of entry. Nonetheless, some countries might require at least six months, and for this reason, it is important to check the rules of the country Brits plan to reach.
“The Passport Office is saying they allow up to ten weeks for renewals, but I’m hearing delays can be longer, and the Fast Track slots are limited. And let me be plain; with an invalid passport, the travel insurance company will not allow you to claim if that’s the reason you can’t go on holiday,” Lewis stated.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the Mirror explains that Lewis also warned Brits travelling to the EU for summer to check their EHIC. He said that around 5.4 million EHICs will expire this year, urging everyone to check it as soon as possible.
An EHIC holds all of its holders to the same standards as EU citizens in terms of state-provided health insurance. This means that all Brits holding the document are eligible to free healthcare in the EU.