Urgent holiday warning for Brits who still have red passports

BRITS headed abroad this summer have been warned to check their passport as a key detail could ruin your trip.

Passport validity rules vary from country to country, and if you still have a red passport you could be barred from entering certain countries.

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The “six month validity rule” is shared by a majority of the world’s country, meaning the passport you travel with has to be valid for six months before you leave for your holiday.

But those with older red passports have been warned to double check to make sure theirs are still valid.

Most of the older red passports are set to expire in the next few years, and will be replaced by the new blue ones.

Popular destinations which have the rule include: The Virgin Islands, Egypt, the Philippines, and more.

Make sure to double check that your passport correlates with the rules to the country you’re headed to.

It comes as Martin Lewis mentioned the rule in a recent warning to Brit families.

He said of the validity rules: “There are many countries now where you won’t be allowed in unless you can fulfil those criteria.

“Since Brexit, even EU countries require UK passports to have three months left on them now for you to get in, and the passport must be under ten years old.

“Lots of people miss that second one, so check that.”

An easy mistake could also get you banned from a flight to Europe if you aren’t careful.

One of those is getting your passport stamped, which is needed every time you enter and exit an EU country.

This is because the new restrictions allow Brits to stay just 90 days over a 180 day period.

However, if you don’t get an exit stamp, you could risk being seen as over-staying – and being banned from travelling.

Some tourists have already run into issues after their passports weren’t stamped when they left the country.

One passenger, who had returned from Ibiza back in April, said they had two entry stamps yet to have exit stamps.

They told local media: “On my last two occasions visiting Ibiza on direct UK flights, my UK passport has not been exit-stamped by Spanish immigration authorities upon leaving Ibiza back to the UK.

“I now have two ‘un-closed’ Spanish visits in my UK passport, making a nonsense of the 90-day rule, and running the risk of me being accused of overstaying my rolling 90 days’ allowance. Which I haven’t.”