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This morning on TV a presenter said that after Brexit the EU would not accept passports that over ten years from date of issue to date of expiration. I go on holiday on 28/03 the day before Brexit and thinking on when I come back because my passport was issued on 27/03/2012 and expirers 27/06/2022 which is over 10 years, I do not want to be stuck in Lanzarote.

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    The Schengen area does not accept passports more than ten years after issue. But they will accept a passport that is valid for longer than ten years during the first ten years of its validity.
    – phoog
    Mar 8, 2019 at 19:57

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The UK Government has posted Advice for British passport holders if the UK leaves the EU without a deal

After 29 March 2019:

  • You should have at least 6 months left on your passport from your date of arrival. This applies to adult and child passports.

  • If you renewed a passport before it expired, up to 9 extra months may have been added to your new passport’s expiry date. Any extra months on your passport over 10 years may not count towards the 6 months that should be remaining for travel to most countries in Europe.

The new rules will apply to passports issued by the UK, Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey."

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    It means you will need to renew your passport in 2021 instead of 2022. Not an issue for your journey in 2019.
    – Michael Hampton
    Mar 8, 2019 at 16:15
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    Links are absolutely OK. Indeed, when you're quoting a source, you should always link to that source, where possible. Perhaps you're thinking of Stack Exchange's rule against link-only answers. An answer such as "See this document" would be no good because it contains no information except the link.
    – David Richerby
    Mar 8, 2019 at 18:13
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    David Richerby - thanks for the edit, and the clarification re links.
    – canonacer
    Mar 8, 2019 at 19:01
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    The UK has it wrong. The requirement is three months after anticipated departure, not six months after entry. Second, "may not count" is correct. There is no mention in the Schengen code of excluding the extra validity from this calculation, only that the passport must have been issued within ten years before the date of entry.
    – phoog
    Mar 9, 2019 at 1:47
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The rule arises from article six of the Schengen Borders Code:

Article 6

Entry conditions for third-country nationals

  1. For intended stays on the territory of the Member States of a duration of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, which entails considering the 180-day period preceding each day of stay, the entry conditions for third-country nationals shall be the following:

    (a) they are in possession of a valid travel document entitling the holder to cross the border satisfying the following criteria:

    (i) its validity shall extend at least three months after the intended date of departure from the territory of the Member States. In a justified case of emergency, this obligation may be waived

(ii) it shall have been issued within the previous 10 years;

This means that a third-country national cannot enter the Schengen area more than ten years after the issue of the passport, even if the passport is not yet expired. It does not mean that passports valid for longer than ten years are unacceptable.

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My understanding of the rule is that the extra months beyond ten years are not counted when applying the six month validity rule. Hence your passport which had a ten years 3 months validity when issued should be viewed as expiring on 27/03/22 instead of 27/06/22.

Thus it has more than six months of validity remaining so you are fine.

SHUT OUT Brexit passport warning for millions of Brits – renew today or risk No Deal EU travel ban

Those with less than 15 months left on their passports could be at risk if they plan to travel after March 29 - find out if you're affected

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    The Sun is a poor source: they're about Daily Mail levels of accuracy. For example, they claim that "Which? has warned travellers who have less than 15 months left on their passport to apply for a new one now if they plan to travel after we leave the EU." That is almost certainly not true, as Which? know what they're talking about and most people with 15 months left on their passports won't need to renew. Something like this Daily Telegraph article would be a better source.
    – David Richerby
    Mar 8, 2019 at 18:10
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    Actually, a literal reading of the code suggests that extra validity is acceptable for the three month rule (there is no six month rule), as long as the date of entry falls before the ten-year anniversary of the issue date. Do you have any evidence that authorities of any Schengen state are extending the ten-year limit as described in the article?
    – phoog
    Mar 9, 2019 at 1:42

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