Must residency card holders in France keep three months’ validity on passport?

Reader Question: My UK passport is set to expire in February 2026, but I have heard I need to keep three months’ validity on it. In this case I may need to go back to the UK urgently to renew it with a fast-track service. I am a 10-year residency card holder.

You do not need to return to the UK to renew your passport, as the process is available online. 

Indeed, for Britons living in France, only online renewals are possible, as the embassy and consulates no longer offer a renewal service. 

Online applications are made through the official government website. 

Various third-party sites offer to help but all of them eventually use the government website to make the application, so you can cut out the middleman (and extra fees) by doing it yourself.

It costs £108 for an adult, excluding courier fees.

You need to upload a digital photo of yourself, which is best done by getting one taken at a photoshop (specifying that it is for a UK passport) and having it saved on an USB key or emailed to you as a .jpg file. You can also get someone to take one of yourself, though there are more risks of the photo not being accepted. 

The UK Passport Office warns it can take up to ten weeks for passports to be renewed in busy periods, however staff members at The Connexion have seen passports renewed online within a three-week turnaround. 

‘Three-month rule’ does not apply to EU residents 

However, if you are concerned about missing upcoming travel plans due to renewing the passport, you do not need to worry.

While visitors to France/the EU must have at least three months left on their passport from their planned date of departure from the bloc, EU citizens and residency card holders can use their passport for entry and exit from the EU up until its expiration date. 

If your passport expires in February, you can therefore travel back to the UK in December, return to France in January, and then renew the passport online once back. 

You should renew the passport before it expires, however, as not having a valid passport can lead to complications, including for admin procedures such as renewing residency cards.

Note that this ‘use until expiry’ rule only applies within a 10-year window – older British passports may have been issued with up to 10 years and 9 months validity, but within the EU post-Brexit they are only valid for a maximum of 10 years.

This means the ‘expiry date’ for use in the EU will be 10 years from the date of issue. Therefore, it is vital to check this before travelling.

If you wish to renew your passport while in the UK this is still possible, but you must have it sent to a UK address (it cannot be sent overseas unless you make the application abroad).

You will of course be unable to leave UK and return to France until you receive your new passport, but can receive the passport more quickly if you pay for fast-track (arriving in one-week at a cost of £178) or premium (an in-person appointment with the passport issued later that day, for £222) services.

As the holder of a valid residency permit, your passport is not stamped when travelling into the EU and passport stamping will soon end altogether in France under EES rules.