British Passport Renewal

I need to check back, but this came into question during covid and I remember reading that if you are a resident of that EU country then you can enter as long as the passport is valid.

Which of course is entirely diffetent.

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Schengen rules as per the first link in above post.

Passport and visa requirements

If you are a non-EU national wishing to visit or travel within the EU, you will need a passport:

  • valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU country you are visiting,
  • which was issued within the previous 10 years,
    Personally I would only travel with the10yrs date from issue not a date with extra months added .

Thank you @_Brian @JaneJones and @digitracker for your thoughts, experiences (incl at Newhaven!) and the various links. Using the latter, I have now sent off a specific question to the European Commission (via “Your Europe Advice” form).

In essence I have asked them whether the twin 10 year from date of issue/3 months validity conditions can apply to a legal resident of France, who is not a “visitor visiting” an EU country, given I have an EU (family member) CdS. I will report back. There is no mention of the 10 year/3 months conditions in the list of requirements to obtain said EU CdS. I would hope the EC will respond positively to my question.

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@George1 - thanks for taking this to a higher level. I look forward to seeing exactly what the official word is.

Thanks George. I was contemplating the same thing but you are obviously less of a procrastinator than I.

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Brian, purely out of interest did you show your carte de sĂ©jour (I’m assuming you have a WARP card etc) to the immigration officer/ferry official, or did you mention it (ie to demonstrate your right to live in France?).Or were you just relieved they waved you onboard
?

George - I never show my CdS card to the British border officials as it is not really of any relevance to them.

I did show the passport and card to the French border control officers in Dieppe and I was waved through with no comment other than "bonne conduite et bonne journĂ©e’.

Brief background for those unfamiliar with the Newhaven-Dieppe route - there are no French border guards stationed at Newhaven, unlike the situation at Dover and Eurotunnel.

What I had in mind was the fact that the officials checking passports outbound at Newhaven are - in my experience - usually (DFDS) ferry company officials/contractors
I imagine they’re strictly following orders to check passports for those going to France, likely to include identifying those who could be turned back by France/EU. For the latter, the ferry company will then presumably have the cost and burden of returning them to the UK.

That’s the scenario I envisaged in my question ie showing them your CdS as evidence of your legal right to live in France, despite EU rules about having 3 months validity on your non-EU passport etc, if challenged . That’s also the reason/issue behind my question to the EU.

I half suspect the EU may still respond with the view that to enter the EU you must have a valid non EU passport ie issued less than 10 years earlier, and may say the 3 month rule doesn’t apply to non visitors.

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Yes, it is the carrier that is liable if they transport an irregular or illegal entrant.

But not having shown his CdS could make the difference. If there are no French border guards is there never a question of a passport being stamped?

There are border guard and customs in Dieppe

Ok, this thread’s got me a bit twitchy
 daft though that might be.
I’m holder of CdSWA
 and my straight 10 year UK passport expires 22 Nov 2023

Please can someone advise when and how is it best to apply for it’s replacement ??

I would start doing it sooner rather than later. Overseas application online, bit more expensive but usually fairly quick .

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Had the UK guards asked if I had a right to live in France I would, of course, shown my CdS. As they had established that my passport was valid (just!) for that trip to France they were happy to let me go.

If it is 10 years with no extra months added then you need a new passport by end August. Rumour has it that the team dealing with overseas passports are less affected by strikes so no major delays. Therefore a month in advance should be fine if you apply online (it was 10 day turnaround!)

Obviously if you have plans to travel you may need to adjust timings.

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We recently renewed our passports and used the ephoto. It worked out great. It only accepted the correct photos for both of us. We’re not great at technology either but I found it easy to follow the instructions. You’ll be fine, believe me

I can’t really see why I need a passport to have 3 months left on it
 just for sitting here in France
 as we shan’t be travelling anywhere

(I had been reading somewhere that a passport was valid until it expired
 but, I wont leave it that late
 :wink: )

Once your passport has expired you still have up to 10 years to be able to renew it online. Just did it recently for my father, his passport had expired 2 years ago and all done on line, no problems.

It should be fairly easy to understand - to be considered valid a passport should have been issued less than 10 years ago, the passport must be valid on the day you plan to exit the EU and for three months afterwards (presumably in case of unforseen circumstances preventing exit) - which has to include the “less than 10 years old” at the exit date+3 months point.

I don’t quite know why people are tying themselves up in knots.

Though to be frank the UK didn’t help the situation by issuing passports that were technically valid for more than 10 years.

Exactly my sentiments, thats why I posted the above links, but some people cant see the woods for the trees, I know I wouldnt risk losing the costs and disruptions of a trip just to score points over an overzealous customs officer, they only apply the rules as laid out to them, I think the uk gov have now stopped issuing 10yr plus passports post brexit, but there will be someone somewhere then moaning about losing a couple of months worth of travel on their passports because they had to send in their passports early for renewal as I have evidenced on another forum that I frequent.

I can certainly understand the sentiment, for those making trips
 but for those simply sitting-put
 can’t see the reasoning