ObligatoHow long is a passport valid — and when should you renew it?
Passports have one thing in common with insurance: you remember them at the worst possible moment. The expiry date printed inside is not the date that matters, either. Here are the validity periods, the two rules that turn a "valid" passport into a refused boarding, and a realistic renewal timeline.
Validity periods
- UK: adults 10 years, children under 16 five years.
- US: adults 10 years, children under 16 five years.
- EU countries: typically 10 years for adults and 5 for children; some issue shorter passports for young children.
A child's passport expires faster than it feels. A passport issued before the first year of school is gone by the time they're nine or ten.
The two rules that catch people out
- The six-month rule. Many countries require your passport to be valid for 3 or 6 months beyond your arrival or departure date. Thailand, the UAE, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt and most of Asia use six months. "Valid until the end of the holiday" is often not enough, and it's the airline that refuses boarding, not the border.
- The EU/Schengen rule for UK passports. Since Brexit, a UK passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the day you enter and be valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave. Older UK passports carried extra months from a previous renewal, so a passport can show a future expiry date and still fail the ten-year rule.
Rule of thumb: treat the expiry date as nine months earlier than printed. Renew once you're inside that window and you'll never hit either rule.
How long a renewal takes
- UK: HM Passport Office advertises 3 weeks for a standard online renewal, and meets that for most applications outside peak season — but it can stretch to 4–6 weeks in March–April and 4 weeks or more in the May–June rush. Paid fast-track (1 week) and premium (same day, appointment) services exist for adult renewals.
- US: routine processing is 4–6 weeks plus mailing time, expedited 2–3 weeks for an extra $60 fee; urgent travel appointments exist for trips within 14 days (28 if a visa is needed). Add roughly 2 weeks either side for mail, so door-to-door is often 6–10 weeks routine or 4–7 weeks expedited.
- EU: commonly 2–4 weeks, longer before summer.
Renewing early costs nothing: the new passport is valid for the full period from its issue date, and the UK no longer carries over remaining months either way.
When to apply
Apply at least 3 months before the expiry date, and before booking any trip that falls inside the last 9 months of validity. For families, renew all the children's passports at the same time so there is one date to track instead of three.
If it has already expired
An expired passport is renewed the same way as a valid one in the UK and US; there's no penalty, only the wait. If travel is imminent, use the fast-track or urgent appointment services. Airlines will not make exceptions.
Track it once
Put the expiry date of every passport in the household in one place with a reminder 90 days ahead. That is enough for the application, the delivery and a mistake.
In Obligato, "Passport" and "ID card" are presets. Pro reminds you 90 and 30 days ahead and by email, early enough to apply without paying for fast-track.