|
|
Passport Information 
Passports
A standard ten year British passport is required for all holidays in this brochure which must be valid for at least six months beyond your planned date of return travel, however, please see any exceptions to this below. If your passport expires earlier than this, it may still be acceptable but you should contact your local passport office or the consulate or embassy of the country to be visited for detailed advice. Clients applying for a new passport, or renewing an expired one, should allow eight weeks for the application to be processed and up to three months if applying between February and August. Lost, stolen and new passports will take one week minimum to replace. It is essential that you check whether you are in possession of a valid passport before you make your holiday booking. If your passport is endorsed in any way, you should check immigration requirements with the relevant embassy or consulate of the country to be visited.
Exceptions - USA - Machine-readable passports
All passengers entering the USA on the visa waiver programme will be required to hold a machine readable passport (MRP). An MRP includes the holder's personal details e.g. name, date of birth, nationality and their passport number contained in two lines of text as letters, numbers and chevrons (>>>>) at the base of the photo page. If you are NOT in possession of a MRP you will need to contact the US Embassy to obtain a visa for entry or apply for a new passport. Travellers without a MRP who do not have a visa will be denied entry into the USA and possibly fined. The vast majority of non-machine readable British passports that are in circulation were issued outside of the UK.
Digital Photographs
The US announced a requirement that all new passports issued on or after the 26 October 2005 must contain a digital photo image to enable the holder to travel to the USA without the need of a visa. A digital photograph is printed on the page, not glued or laminated. The UK passport office has confirmed that all passports issued since 2003 in the UK should include digital photographs. If your passport was issued before 2003 or does not contain a digital photograph, you may still enter the US as along as your passport is machine readable (see above).
Biometric Passports
From the 26th October 2006 all new passports issued on or after this date will be required to include biometric data. Biometric passports contain the holder's facial data stored in an integrated circuit chip and may also contain other unique personal information such as fingerprints and iris details. The UK Passport office is currently developing this capability and anticipates being able to meet this deadline. If your passport was issued prior to 26 October 2006 you will still be able to enter the US on the visa waiver system as long as it is machine readable (see above) and if necessary it contains a digital photograph (see above). For further information on the visa waiver system, please refer to our USA visa section. This information has been issued for general guidance only, if you have any doubt about travel to the US or require any further information we strongly recommend that you contact the US Embassy's Live Operator Information Service on 090555 444546 (calls costs £1.30 per minute at the time of going to print) or visit the US Embassy website on www.usembassy.org.uk for further information.
South Africa
All visitors are required to have one blank page in their passport to enable an entry visa to be issued upon arrival in the country. Two blank pages will be required if travel is extended to other African countries.
Botswana
All visitors passports must have at least 12 month validity.
Holders of British Subject Passports and Non-British Citizens
We can only advise on immigration requirements if your passport was issued in the UK and endorsed ‘British Citizen'. Holders of a British Subject passport and non- British citizens should check immigration requirements with the relevant embassy or consulate of the country to be visited. Dual Nationality/Renounced Citizenship - Clients should check with the embassy of the country/countries to be visited what the entry requirements are.
