Passport renewal and six-month rule

Question

I am currently holding a Philippine passport, which expires on April 2019. I hold a residence permit right now, which is "valid" way beyond this date.

I live in France and might be moving to the Netherlands in less than two months. I am going home to the Philippines in December for the holidays.

I am entertaining two possibilities on how to renew my passport:

• Renew at the Paris embassy. Processing takes eight weeks (with no option of expediting) and so I will need to be pinned down in my current address. I would also need to take a train to get there. Given the "strike" situation in the French train system, this is going to cost a lot of money.

• Renew in Manila. Processing takes seven working days expedited. My only worry about this option is that by January 2019, my current passport would be less than three months valid.

So my questions are:

1. Would I be allowed to travel back home to Manila despite having less than six months passport validity?

2. Will the passport application process in Manila be complicated because of the fact that it has less than six months validity?

3. What type of six-month rule does the EU have? Will I have problems travelling starting October?

4. Are there any other more practical options for passport renewal which I have missed?

Answer 1

1. Yes. Six-month rules do not apply to people who are traveling to the country of citizenship.

2. No. You can even renew your passport after it expires.

3. The Schengen area has a six-month rule for short-term visitors. It does not apply to residence permit holders. You will not have trouble traveling within the Schengen area starting in October.

4. You could renew your passport in the Netherlands after you move there.