For information on passport and visa requirements for a specific destination, please select your destination from the dropdown and look for the passport and visa icon.
For further information regarding passports and visas, see below.
It is your responsibility to have a valid passport and an appropriate visa and any other required documentation for your holiday. We, or the carrier (e.g. airline), may refuse travel if you do not have a valid passport, visa or entry permit.
We are not obliged to help you if you are refused travel, so please check you have everything before you leave for the airport!
The name(s) and initials on your flight tickets must exactly match those on your passport.
For travel to most countries, a British passport must remain valid for at least 6 months after your scheduled return to the UK. Some countries apply different rules: contact the Embassy of your destination country for current information.
Your passport and travel documents must be intact: you may not be able to travel if they are damaged or have been tampered with. If you have any doubts about the validity or condition of your passport, please contact the Passport Adviceline on 0870 521 0410 or visit the Passport Service website.
Original documents are always required for first-time applications, and may be required to replace a lost or stolen passport. For further advice, please call the Passport Adviceline on 0870 521 0410 (calls charged at national rate) or visit the Passport Service website. The UK Passport Service does not accept photocopy documents.
Please note that the UK Passport Service makes checks before issuing a passport to prevent the misuse of identities, and their enquiries may take a little while to complete.
If you need a passport, then apply early. You do not have to wait until a current passport expires before you renew it. If you renew your passport before it expires, any unexpired period of validity rounded down to the nearest whole month (minimum of one month, maximum of nine months) will be added to your new passport. This period is calculated from the point at which your new passport is authorised for issue, not from the date of application. You therefore need to apply at least six weeks before your passport expires to get this benefit.
For help and advice about passport applications and fees, contact the Passport Adviceline on 0870 521 0410 or visit the Passport Service website.
NOTICE FOR PASSENGERS OVER 16 YEARS OLD: If you are 16 or over and haven't yet got a passport, our recommendation is that you should apply for one at least 6 weeks before you travel. The UK Passport Service has to confirm your identity before issuing your first passport and from October 2006 will ask you to attend an interview in order to do this.
From 5 October 1998, children under 16 have been required to hold their own passports. Children already included on a parent's passport are not affected by this change and can continue to travel on these passports until they reach the age of sixteen or when the passport expires. If, during the validity of a passport on which a child is included, a new document is required, then a separate passport for the child would need to be applied for. There is no facility to add a child to a passport after 5 October 1998.
REMEMBER: A child included on a passport issued before 5 October 1998 can only travel on this passport whilst they are under 16. Children aged 16 and over need separate passports.
PLEASE NOTE: Children traveling to the USA from 26 October 2004 will need their own passport. For further information, see changes to US entry requirements below or visit the US Embassy website.
Note your passport number before you travel and keep it separate from your passport. This will help the local British Consulate to supply a temporary passport at short notice if you lose the original.
To minimise the risk of loss or theft, keep your passport in a safe place, separate from other documents. We also advise keeping a copy of your passport in a separate place - both at home and abroad - as this greatly speeds up the process of replacing your passport, should it be lost or stolen.
In the U.K.: Report the loss or theft of your passport immediately to the police and the UK Passport Service (UKPS). You will also need to complete and sign a lost/stolen declaration form, which can be obtained from the Passport Adviceline on 0870 521 0410, the UKPS website at the Passport Service website, your local passport office, police station or selected Post Office branches offering the passport application Check & Send Service.
Abroad: Report the loss or theft of your passport immediately to the local police, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Consulate, Embassy or High Commission. You can find the details of your local FCO by calling 0845 850 2829 prior to departure, or by visiting www.fco.gov.uk.
You will also need to fill out a lost/stolen declaration form (LS01) and submit reference details of a local police report. For more detailed information, visit www.fco.gov.uk.
Non-British citizens (including citizens of British Dependent Territories, those who hold their citizenship by virtue of a connection with Gibraltar, British subjects who have a right to live in the United Kingdom, and EC and other nationals) should consult the Embassy of your destination country and the Home Office Immigration Department to check whether you need special documents for the countries you are visiting or for your return to the UK. If you wish to visit Cyprus and have a Turkish Cypriot stamp in your passport, contact the Consulate or the Cyprus High Commission, as you may need a supplementary passport.
New security measures introduced in October 2004 mean all persons travelling to the USA with a non-machine readable passport will require a USA entry visa. Infants and children travelling on a parent’s passport (regardless of whether the parent's passport is machine readable) will also require an entry visa.
Applying for a USA entry visa is a lengthy process that can take several weeks so we strongly recommend that:
A Machine Readable Passport has the holder's personal details e.g. name, date of birth, nationality and their passport number contained in two lines of text at the base of the photo page. This text can be read by machine. All UK passports issued in the UK since 1988 are machine readable, however British passports issued overseas may not be. For further information, please call the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice Unit on 0845 850 2829 or contact the US Embassy on 09042 450 100 (calls charged at £1.20 per minute) or visit the US Embassy website.