Norway deports UK tourist over made-up passport rule

Norway is deporting properly documented British tourists by misinterpreting Europe-wide rules on passport validity.

- SIMON CALDER

On 22 February 2025 a passenger arrived at Oslo airport aboard Norwegian flight DY1641 from Edinburgh, along with their partner and friends, for a one-week holiday.

The visitor had a British passport that was valid for travel to Norway and anywhere else in the Schengen area up to 25 March 2025 for a stay of up to 90 days. The passport expires on 26 November 2025. All Schengen area nations – including almost all EU countries plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway – are required to apply the same conditions for entry to the frontierfree zone.

The visitor was legally entitled to remain in Norway until late June. But police at Oslo airport claimed, incorrectly, that the holidaymaker had insufficient validity on their passport. They ignored the Schengen Borders Code and declared: “Your passport is issued 26 March 2015 and is therefore considered valid only until the 26 March 2025.”

After being detained, the passenger was put on a plane back to the UK with a notice saying they had been “expelled from Norway”.

As The Independent has repeatedly pointed out, the pretence that a UK passport “expires” on its 10th birthday has no basis in EU law. Passports for third-country nationals such as UK citizens travelling to the Schengen area must be:

• Issued within the last 10 years at the day of entry

• Valid for at least three months after the traveller plans to leave