Martin Lewis: 'Wasn't allowed to board with seven months left on passport' – TWO key passport checks to stop it happening to you

ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show Live – Tuesday 20 May

From The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on Tuesday 20 May 2025 courtesy of ITV. All rights reserved. Watch the full episode on ITVX.

Transcript of what Martin said on the show

Martin: "Now, I need to say something very important to everybody. Border control and flight checks are getting more stringent. There's an immigration issue going on around the world, and that means countries are getting stricter on who they let in. So you need to be more diligent with your checks.

"Let me move on to where I was going to go. And I think I'm going to explain Mary's [the woman who wrote in to the show] issue here."

"So I've got three crucial alerts for you. First of all, two checks everybody needs to do on their passport. Now, these are – very importantly – this is about the day that you will enter the country. Let's make that passport bigger. There we go."

"So, the first check is:

1. "On the day you enter the country, are there less than six months left on your passport? Or if you're going to the EU, less than three months left? If so, that's a big problem.

"But there's another rule...

2. "Even if you had seven months, and this is what I think may have happened in Mary's daughter's case (seven months left on your passport). If your passport is over 10 years old, many countries won't let you in.

"Now, how could it be over 10 years old? Because it used to be that when you renewed, if you had any spare time on your old passport, they could add that on top. So you might have – [Martin points to an audience member] yeah you're nodding, it happened to you – you might have 10 years, 10 months. And that can bar you too. So you need to do both of those checks.

[Note if you're travelling with children: a child passport only lasts five years, so a valid one can never be more than 10 years old and will always meet this second general rule – even if it had extra time added on when it was last renewed.]

"Now, if you have done those checks, if there's yes to either of those, then the safest thing is to renew before you go. It takes three weeks typically to get a new passport and it's cheaper to do it online. But let me be honest, I'm hearing so many cases like this. If I was seven, eight or nine months away and the rule was six months, I'd probably play safe and get a new passport first anyway, so that I’ve got more on it because it's being so tricky.

"And it's very similar if you're travelling to the USA or passing through the USA, you need to sort your ESTA now. There is heightened border security in the States. If you don't have – this is your sort of online visa if you like – without one, people are being denied entry. You need to be careful."

If you do need to renew your passport, see our Passport renewal tips guide.