Apply For A New Passport, If You Are British And Want To Travel This Summer

If your passport is issued for longer than 10 years, or is going to expire soon, you should apply for a new passport as soon as possible to avoid having to cancel your summer holiday.

If your passport is issued for longer than 10 years, or is going to expire soon, you should apply for a new passport as soon as possible to avoid having to cancel your summer holiday.

The Covid pandemic and Brexit have caused large processing delays of passport renewal applications at HM Passport Office (HMPO). It is, therefore, prudent to apply for a new passport immediately if you want to travel in the next few months, and if one or more of the following statements apply to you:

• you want to travel to an EU country and at the time of entry your passport would be older than 10 years from the date of issue;
• you want to travel to an EU country and your passport will have less than 3 months’ validity left on it at the point you are returning to the UK. Again, this is a requirement under EU Schengen rules – but beware, many countries outside the EU require 6 months’ validity;
• you want to travel anywhere in the world and your passport is going expire in the next few months.

HMPO had advised of a 10-week processing period from April 2020 (up from 3 weeks before the pandemic). However, current application volumes will make it likely that even the extended target cannot be met for the foreseeable future.

There are still situations in which HMPO will consider compelling and compassionate circumstances to expedite an application, however, the threshold to qualify for priority treatment is very high.

How Gherson can assist

Gherson has extensive experience in assisting clients with British passport applications. In the event that you would like to discuss the possibility of making such an application, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

Please note that appointment availability and processing times are exclusively within HMPO’s control and cannot be expedited by third parties.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

©Gherson 2022