- Monday, April 29, 2024
The fee for a new or renewed adult passport applied for online has surged by seven per cent, from £82.50 to £88.50. This comes after a nine per cent increase in February last year.
By: Shubham Ghosh
APRIL 11 saw the price of UK passports becoming dearer for the second time in 14 months, prompting widespread scrutiny over the significant rise in costs.
The fee for a new or renewed adult passport applied for online has surged by seven per cent, from £82.50 to £88.50. This comes after a nine per cent increase in February last year.
Similarly, the online application cost for a child’s passport has also risen — from £53.50 to £57.50.
A postal application for an adult passport now stands at £100, up from £93, while the fee for a child has increased to £69 from £64.
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For those applying from overseas or needing urgent processing, the costs are even higher. A standard paper application when applying from overseas will increase to £112.50 for adults and £77 for children. On the other hand, a standard online application when applying from overseas will rise to £101 for adults and £65.50 for children. However, individuals born on or before 2 September 1929 are eligible for free travel documents.
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The UK passport ranks as one of the priciest in Europe, surpassed in cost only by Italy, Denmark, and Switzerland.
In contrast, a Spanish passport application comes at £25, while in Germany, it’s £60.
Before last year’s increase, the passport application fee had stayed constant for five years, with a standard adult online application priced at £75.50.
Consumer rights campaigner Martyn James told BBC News that “just because a business or organisation can raise prices doesn’t mean they should”, adding that “many users will question what they are getting for their money”.
Denying that it profits from passport applications, the government said “the new fees will help ensure that income from these applications better meets the cost of delivering passport and associated operations, reducing reliance on funding from general taxation”, an Independent report said.
“The fees contribute to the cost of processing passport applications, consular support overseas, including for lost or stolen passports, and the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders. The increase will also help enable the government to continue improving its services.”
Private website PassportWaitingTime.co.uk says that the standard online renewals are currently taking nine days from the time of application.
“You’ll usually get your passport within three weeks. It may take longer than three weeks if we need more information, or we need to interview you. We’ll tell you this within three weeks. There are different turnaround times if you’re applying from another country,” says HM Passport Office.
The UK was ranked 12th when the world’s most expensive passports were revealed in 2023.
