A family who were meant to be travelling to the Algarve for a £3,000 holiday were forced to cancel the trip because of a little-known Brexit rule.
The Gurd family were unable to board their flight because of a passport glitch - despite all their documents being in order and valid, according to the BBC.
Mum Nina Gurd was knocked back from the flight because despite her passport being due to expire in February 2023 it is not valid for travel to Portugal, and some other countries.
Nina was convinced her passport would be OK, as it is still in date and has more than the three months to expiry date some countries require, according to Devon Live.
But when she got to the airport she was told the expiry date is meaningless. Nina said: “The lady at Bournemouth Airport said it needs to be within 10 years of the issue date.”
Nina’s passport was originally issued on 29 May 2012, meaning it would have been due to expire next month, but when she renewed it in 2012 that was done early - meaning nine months were added to the document, giving it a new expiry date of 28 February 2023.
Nina, husband John and their sons Jack, Harry and Charlie, went home instead of to Portugal.
Nina said: “When we were booking our holiday, we were only ever asked for our passport numbers and the expiry dates, nothing else.
“But the expiry date is apparently meaningless.”
Portugal is one of 26 European countries within the Schengen Area of free movement. Post-Brexit, some EU countries in the Schengen Area are insisting passports must be no more than 10 years old.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told the BBC that the advice published on its website warns travellers they may face problems if they have a passport that lasts longer than 10 years.
Nina told the BBC: “We’ve got to get the message out there that actually the expiry date on your passport is meaningless,” he said.
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