The Little-Known Passport Rule You Need to Know ASAP

If you’re someone who loves dusting off their passport to escape the cold weather once the UK summer has come to an end, you might want to pay close attention to one tiny detail.

As one TikTok influencer @jackremmington recently let his followers know, you might be turned away at the airport if your passport doesn’t have enough room for stamps, which in that case you’d be forced to renew your entire passport.

“I thought you could just buy more pages or something, but no,” Jack states in the now viral vid.

Talking to his friend via WhatsApp, she responds: “I just didn’t think the stamps were that deep, I thought it was just for fun.”

Posting the chat onto his story, his followers responded in agreement, one saying: “I thought when they gave you one sometimes it was just like a little treat.”

With this in mind, experts at Travel Republic warn against this little-known passport rule that some people may have not realised before travelling. 

The truth about your passport

Antonio Fellino, Managing Director and Travel expert at Travel Republic warns: “Many UK travellers are still unaware of the various passport validity rules that could cut their trips short,” he explains.

“With this viral TikTik video bringing awareness to a little-known passport rule. Passport stamps act as proof that a traveller has not overstayed their visa requirement, and if your passport has too many stamps, it can lead to a variety of implications including potential border control issues and practical concerns, depending on the country you are visiting.”

What this means is that you should probably pay careful attention to how many passport pages (and space for stamps) you have left – especially if you’re planning on going away any time soon. 

Since UK passport holders now need to get their passport stamped every time they enter and leave the EU, the possibility of running out of pages is a definite possibility, especially if you’re someone who travels on a regular basis. 

What you can do

Travel Republic mentions when planning any trip, to make sure you check the specific entry requirements for the country you are visiting, as some countries require several consecutive empty pages for entry and exit stamps or visas. 

“If you don’t have enough pages left, it’s possible to ask an official passport office to add extra pages to your passport,” Travel Republic says. “However, this isn’t offered by every country. If this is the case, it’s likely you will need to apply for a replacement, even if you still have a couple of years left on your passport.”

If you’re afraid of your pages running out, Travel Republic recommends opting for something called a “jumbo passport” which includes a whopping 54 pages as opposed to the standard British passport that only has 34.

“Make sure you also check your passport’s issue date and expiry date as well as the number of blank pages in your passport before you book a trip so that you aren’t caught out.”