Martin lewis issues passport warning to anyone going on holiday

THE MONEY SAVING EXPERT HAS WARNED PEOPLE TO CHECK TWO THINGS BEFORE THEY JET OFF ABROAD 12:40, 22 May 2025 Money saving expert Martin Lewis has issued a passport warning for anyone heading

on holiday over the summer. He said there is one thing you must do now to prevent any problems during your trip - and it’s all to do with the date on your documents. Speaking on the latest

episode of_ _The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, Martin said the first thing you need to do when booking a trip is to check that on the day you are set to enter the country if there's

less than six months left on your passport. If you’re going to the European Union, there needs to be at least three months left on your passport. Martin added: “But there’s another rule,

even if there is seven months left on your passport, if your passport is over ten years old, many countries won’t let you in.” He explained: “It used to be that when you renewed, if you had

any time left on your old passport, you could add that on time. So you might have ten years and ten months, and that can bar you too. So you need to do both of those checks.” If you have

done these checks and there are less than the required amount of months left, then the safest thing to do is “renew before you go”, Martin told the audience. He said if his passport had

seven, eight, or nine months left on it, he would “probably play it safe and get a new passport first anyway”. Martin also issued guidance on travelling to the USA, which requires an ESTA

(Electronic System for Travel Authorization). As there is "heightened border security in the States”, people are being denied entry without an ESTA. Martin said: “So you need to be

careful.” If you are travelling to the European Union this summer, it is important to be aware that there are 1.8 million European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) that expire this year. This

means it's important to check whether or not yours is set to expire soon, and if so, to replace it with a Global Health Insurance Card. Martin explained: “What does this do? It gives

you access to EU state hospitals or GPs at the same price as a local. So if it’s free for them, it’s free for you. And it’s well worth having as a valuable addition to travel insurance, not

as a replacement.” This card also acts as proof in Australia, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, St Helena, Tristan and Ascension Islands, where there is a reciprocal healthcare arrangement with

the UK. One thing everyone should be aware of is that you can renew these cards for free, and you should never pay for your EHIC or GHIC. The expert said that there were scam sites on the

internet that pretend to be official sites and offer services like “fast track” cards that don’t exist. Article continues below Martin affirmed: “Do not pay, go to NHS.UK, check your card,

and renew that. It’s totally free.”