Jeremy Vine: Travel expert gives passport tip for when on holiday

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The expert explained on the Channel 5 show that Britons should always make sure they get their passport stamped when they return from their holidays. Why?

If passports are not stamped on the way out of a country, British tourists might not be able to visit again as according to the passport records, they may have overstayed the three-month visa.

Travel expert Lisa Minot explained: “One thing I would say to people who are looking to go abroad this summer is please, please make sure your passport, when they stamp it on the way in, make sure they stamp it on the way out as well.

“Because we have seen some problems with countries where perhaps they are not used to stamp our passports, if they don’t stamp you out, you could then be denied entry on your next holiday because you would have effectively stayed for longer than 90 days.

“So always make sure, wherever you are, that your passport is stamped on the way out,” she said.

All nations in the EU and the Schengen area allow tourists to stay in the country for up to three months.

Therefore, Britons are only permitted to stay up to 90 days when going on holiday around Europe this summer.

The UK Foreign Office recently issued a warning explaining: “If relevant entry or exit stamps are not in your passport or visible to a border officer on the computer system, a border officer may presume that you have overstayed your visa-free limit.”

It said if travellers use the e-gates, these will give you a “virtual stamp”.

While going through the border control desks, they may also ask to stamp your passport “for operational reasons” and Britons should always make sure this has been done.

British tourists are no longer allowed to use e-gates in most EU airports after Brexit.

However, some airports have e-gates available for UK travellers but they also need to go through manual passport control after that.

The Foreign Office said: “E-gates are in operation at:

“Lisbon, Faro, Porto and Funchal (Madeira) airports for use by British and some other non-EU passport holders.

“These e-gates are separate to the e-gates for EU/EEA/Swiss citizens.

“On arrival or departure, check you are eligible to use the e-gates and that you are in the right queue.

“When using an e-gate, your entry/exit is recorded on the computer system.

“A border officer may also stamp your passport after you have passed through the e-gate.

“This is for airport operational reasons.”

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