Children's ID cards and passports: expiry dates you don't want to discover at the airport

Every summer there's a family who discovers at airport security that their child's ID has expired. Not through carelessness: children's documents last less time than adults', each child has their own expiry date, and nobody remembers them all.

Managing a family's ID expiry dates is simple, as long as you do it before you need it.

Why children's expiry dates are trickier

In many countries, children's passports and ID cards have shorter validity than adults', often depending on the child's age when issued: in Italy, for example, roughly 3 years for under-3s and 5 years until adulthood, against 10 years for adults. Rules vary by country and change over time: always check the current guidance from the issuing authority.

In practice, a family with two children has four or more different expiry dates, staggered across the years.

1. Take stock of the documents

Once, gather all the family's ID documents and note for each:

• type (ID card, passport, driving licence)
• whose it is
• expiry date
• where the original is kept

Photograph the front and back of each.

2. In the wallet, with the expiry date highlighted

In KidBox's wallet the children's ID cards, health cards and passports are saved encrypted, with the expiry date highlighted. Both parents have them on their phones: handy when you need a detail — the document number for a booking, an online check-in — and the original is at home.

A digital copy doesn't replace the original document for travel or checks: it's for knowing what you have and when it expires.

3. The reminder six months ahead

An expiry discovered a week before is often not enough: renewal appointments, especially before summer, can mean weeks of waiting. Put each expiry date in the family calendar with a reminder at least three to six months before, and a second reminder a month before.

Many countries also require passports to be valid for some months beyond the travel date: check the destination's requirements before booking.

4. Before booking a trip

One simple rule avoids surprises: before booking a trip, check every traveller's document expiry dates. With documents in the wallet it takes thirty seconds. Travelling abroad with children often needs other paperwork too: more in packing and documents for travelling with children.

5. Other documents that expire

The same rules apply to everything in the family that expires:

• adults' driving licences
• health cards
• residence permits, where needed
• children's sports medical certificates

All in the calendar, with reminders matched to how long renewal takes.

6. In separated families

Issuing and renewing children's documents, and travelling abroad with them, usually requires both parents' consent or the relevant authorisations. Planning ahead with the other parent — and both having the dates in a shared calendar — stops a renewal falling through over an incompatible appointment.

In short

Take stock once, keep documents in the wallet with expiry dates highlighted, set reminders months ahead in the calendar, check expiry dates before booking any trip and apply the same rules to licences and certificates. Airports stay stressful. But not because of an ID card.