“Unlocking a New Era: How the UK Passport Transformation Will Redefine Your Travel Adventures!”

Get ready, passport holders! We’re on the brink of a travel revolution that could change how we jet-set around the globe—particularly for us Brits. Imagine a world where your passport is not just a fancy booklet collecting stamps, but rather a digital asset stored right on your smartphone. Yes, you heard that right! The age of physical passport checks before heading to security could soon be behind us. In fact, we’ll be entering a realm of high-tech travel that, in theory, should make crossing borders simpler. But what does this all mean? With new requirements like the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) visa waiver hitting the scene, navigating our overseas adventures is about to get a whole new level of intriguing. Are you ready for a future where losing your phone might be the bigger problem than missing your passport? Buckle up, we’re diving into the upcoming changes that will redefine passports as we know them! LEARN MORE.

Passports as we know them are about to change forever in a new revolutionary way that should, in theory, make things easier for Brits when heading overseas.

As it stands, travelling out of the country requires those with a UK passport to get their passport physically checked before heading through security checks.

Once in your destination of choice, the same applies at border control where Brits are given a stamp in their passport.

Well, things are changing in many ways on this front, one of which is regarding the physical passport itself.

Travel changes

Ahead of passport changes is a raft of changes coming in across the European Union in 2025 that will impact how Brits go in and out of the UK.

Anyone heading to one of 29 European countries will have to follow the new guidance – don’t do this and you wont get in.

As of 1 May, Brits will need a European Travel Information and Authorisation System visa waiver, which is often described as an ETIAS visa waiver.

It’s something that is going to be needed to get in to any of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Costing €7 (£6), the ETIAS visa waiver allows Brits to travel across the 29 countries for a maximum period of 90 days. It lasts for three years or until your passport expires (whichever comes first).

ETIAS is going live in the spring of 2025 (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

To go alongside this, the EU is expected to introduce its long-awaited Entry/Exit System (EES) some time later this year. As of now, no date has been issued after the project was delayed once again last October.

Once in place, the EES will make UK passport holders – and everyone else without an EU passport – conduct biometric tests when entering the EU.

The EES will then automatically track the Schengen 90/180-Day Rule, which allows you to spend 90 days in the EU within any 180-day period.

Overstay your welcome and you could end up being banned from entering the EU for a number of years.

Physical passports will very soon have a limited shelf-life (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

What are the new passport changes?

Alongside travelling out of the UK and in to the EU and Schengen Area, the UK government is changing how the British passport works.

Say hello to the GOV.UK Wallet and App.

It is set to be introduced in the summer of 2025 and will, the government says, give us a simplified access to government-issued services and documents – such as a digital driver’s licences or a passport.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle explained the passport option and explained how it would work in reality.

“The key function you want from the passport is being able to travel with it without constantly being worried you forgot your passport,” he told The Times.

Passport changes are being introduced in a number of ways, both here in the UK and over in the EU (Getty Stock Images)

He continued: “But it’s not dependent on Britain, it depends on the country you’re travelling to. So we’re keeping a close eye on international standards.

“When those standards become clearer, then, of course, you have a Government that would aspire to be able to benefit from it as much as possible.”

The wallet and app should be ready for all credentials come 2027. That would include a birth certificate, national insurance number, power of attorney, marriage and DBS certificates.

It means that very soon, making sure your battery has enough power to get through security check is going to be the new ‘passports? check’.

Just don’t lose your phone either.