The cost of a passport set to increase

The cost of a UK ten-year passport is to increase by 29 per cent, from £51 to £66, with the new fees coming into effect from October 5.

The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) say the new ePassports are the most secure ever produced by the UK, and the price increase will pay for improved security, anti-fraud measures and background checks.

The cost of a child’s passport has also been increased from £34 to £45, and both fast-track and premium services will also see a price increase in October.

Already a million biometric ePassports have been issued, which contain a chip that holds personal details and feature a scanned photograph.

Home Office minister Joan Ryan said: “Passport production is paid for through the passport fee.

“There is a cost to the anti-fraud measures that we are introducing, but we are clear that it is a price that must be paid to protect the integrity of our travel documents and improve the security of our borders.”

From the end of the summer all new passports issued by the UK will contain these enhanced security measures.

© Cheapflights Ltd Craig McGinty

Comments

[Russell John]

The real reason for the increased passport cost must be inefficiency and bureaucracy. My wife is on her fourth attempt to renew hers prior to her holiday and time is now getting tight, each attempt being rejected due to unacceptable photos! This despite using a retailer who specialises in passport photos and paying for the Post Office checking service.

She has just found out that the "problem"' is she has too much hair and so the ludicrous rules stipulate that her photo infringes the amount of blank space required. She has had the same size / style for the previous two passports. It has been suggested she ties it back for the next attempt. I thought a passport photo was supposed to represent the way you normally looked?

[Julie Tominey]

My daughter is presently on my passport which is due for renewal on April 2007. When is the earliest time that I can renew my passport? Since my daughter has been on my passport will hers also be a renewal?

[Jennifer Rice]

I think it is a good idea to have ePassports, but why at our expense?!

[Sabrina Wolfe]

For Julie Tominey: I'm afraid I was unable to find the answer to your question, but I would advise you to contact the UK passport service directly for help. The contact page of its website has full details for how to get in touch.

Sabrina Wolfe, editor, Cheap Flight News

[stephen burn]

Seventy two pounds for a passport? Is this not blackmail? A breach of human rights? We have to pay to be allowed to leave the country? Passports should be free to any person with lineage back at least three generations born in countries of the British Isles including southern Ireland. I might consider a vote for the first political party who includes this in their manifesto - why, oh why, are the people of this Great Britain like a bunch of lemmings?