UK Issues Passports Without 'European Union' Title on Cover - Reports (PHOTO)

Last year, the UK Foreign office reported that after 29 March 2019, in the event of a no deal Brexit, a UK passport holder would be considered a third country national according to the Schengen Border Code, like citizens of other countries which do not belong to the EU or the European Economic Area (Australia, Canada and the USA).

While the United Kingdom seems to be prolonging its stay in the European Union, it appears that British passports are not following the same track. A British citizen has published a photo of her new passport without the words "European Union" on the front cover, Euronews reported.

TRULY APPALLED. Picked up my new passport today — my old one expires in the next couple of months. See below: Spot the difference! pic.twitter.com/R7BW9lk6I5

— Susan Hindle Barone (@SpinHBarone) 5 апреля 2019 г.

Social media users have been shocked by the change. Some of them even suspected that it was a fake passport or an edited photo.

READ MORE: Record Number of Britons Seek Irish Passports as Brexit Looms

The UK government made a decision in 2017 to change the colour of British passports from burgundy red to dark blue.

"After 29 March 2019, if you're a British passport holder (including passports issued by the Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar), you'll be considered a third country national — under the Schengen Border Code and will therefore need to comply with different rules to enter and travel around the Schengen area", the UK Foreign Office stated in September 2018.

The government also said that the blue passports would start being issued beginning late 2019. The United Kingdom earlier had blue passports until 1988, when the government decided to change the colour to the EU's burgundy red.