Passports, visas and travel documents after Brexit

British passports after Brexit

New rules apply to UK Nationals visiting Europe from January 2021. You must check your passport validity online and renew it if you need to. You can check whether your passport is valid at gov.uk/checkpassport.

According to the Schengen Border Code, you'll need your passport to both:

Be less than 10 years old on the day of entry
Have at least 3 months validity remaining on the planned day of exit

If you do need to renew your passport, we recommend doing this as soon as possible before you intend to travel as it can take up to 10 weeks for your new passport to arrive. It may take longer to issue a first adult passport. Note: these rules do not apply if travelling to the Republic of Ireland and you can continue to use your passport as long as it is valid for the length of your stay).

Burgundy passports, whether with "European Union" on the cover or not, remain valid alongside the new blue passport.

Entry/Exit System (EES)

This new border requirement will apply to non-EU nationals travelling to the EU but there is no definite launch date yet. EES is an automated system that will replace manual passport stamping and will register each traveller's:

Date & place of entry and exit from the EU
- This will make it easier for the authorities to spot anyone overstaying the 90/180 day rule.
Biometric data (fingerprints and facial images)
- This data will be stored for 3 years so travellers only have to register this data once every 3 years (as long as the passport is valid) so that subsequent border crossings will only require validation of your fingerprints or photo each time.
- Children under 12 will only need a photograph to be registered.

Data will be collected when travellers arrive at EU border control. However, Dover and Folkestone host the French border force in the UK (to avoid delays at disembarkation) so checks take place in the UK before boarding. At all other ports, the checks will take place on arrival into the EU.

Both Dover and Folkestone are spending millions on extra waiting lanes, technology & staff to make the collection of data as smooth as possible, with Dover proposing tablets to be passed around vehicles and Folkestone building 100 self-service kiosks for customers to get out of their vehicles and log the details of all passengers before going through passport control. It's hoped that things will run smoothly most days but on peak travel dates we expect longer queues.

As current peak days at Dover can see 2 hour queues for passport control, travellers should prepare for long delays. Make sure to plan ahead, bring adequate refreshments etc. There are plans to have toilet facilities and pet exercise areas available as needed.

Dover passport control will remain before the ferry operator check-in so make sure to allow plenty of time when planning your journey.

There are plans for a future app which will allow this information to be submitted in advance of travel, but this is not expected to be ready for the planned launch date.