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PSA for those holding a GB passport. [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-06-07
My very dear friend in Glasgow, Scotland, lives very simply, out of necessity. She and her husband went through this last Scottish winter with no heat in their flat, due to the cost. They don’t have many luxuries. But they’ve been scrimping for some time now to save for a visit to friends in Venice, Italy. This morning they left Glasgow by train for Stansted Airport in London. And that’s where the nightmare that was today began.
Jenny’s passport expires in February of 2024. She needs to have a 6 month time between now and the expiration of her passport. She was intending to return in 10 days, so all should be well. Right?
No. Passports for adults are good for ten years from date of issue. That’s pretty universal. (When getting passports for my then-teenage daughter, and for her son now, it’s five years for children.) So Jenny’s passport had been renewed for its ten year period. But. . . It’s a quirk of the GB passport service to add on any time remaining on the old passport, so hers had been renewed for ten years plus nine months. That had never been a problem. The European Union had always recognized those passports as valid—until Brexit.
Jenny’s passport had been issued 27 May 2013 and had an expiry date of 27 February 2024. Only not so, now. The EU considered it to be past its 10 year valid period, as of two weeks ago. Jenny was turned away at the airport. (She told her husband to go on without her, so Alex is currently visiting Jenny’s friend in Venice.) There was no refund from the airline. There’s no way to cancel the two weeks’ vacation from her work. That’s a large amount of lost money for any of us, but for those for whom this is a rare treat, it’s impossible to recover.
She made arrangements for an expedited renewal, for the 13th. She’ll pick it up in person. She has a taxi already scheduled to get her to Stansted. We’re pooling our money to get her air fare paid for. And she’s staying an extra three days after Alex leaves, so she’ll have at least half a vacation. The cost to our little pool of friends is a good £1,000.
So, if you hold a GB passport that may expire soon, be aware that it now needs to be ten years minus six months from date of issue, regardless of what expiry date is printed on it.
And she’d just had her hair freshly dyed in her favorite purple, to look her best.
While you’re here, another Scottish friend of ours, Paul Burns, wrote his own piece of fiddle music, “The Streets Where I’ve Lived.” Give a listen. Jenny, at my request, put together street views of Scotland’s cities. And read the dedication, please. (I’m Suzanne, and I’m tickled all pink!)
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/7/2173925/-PSA-for-those-holding-a-GB-passport
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