British passport prices increase

The Home Office has outlined plans to introduce different passport fees for online and postal applications.

Under the plans, online applications, which are available to all UK-based applicants, will increase in line with inflation, taking the total from £72.50 to £75.50 for adults and £49 for children. Postal applications will increase by £12.50 to £85 for adults and £58.50 for children, reflecting the increased costs of processing postal applications compared to online applications. Adults choosing to apply online would still be paying less than they would have in 2009, with passport fees having decreased in 2012.

The proposals, which remain subject to Parliamentary approval, would mean the money collected through fees will contribute to the cost of processing British passport holders as they travel in and out of the country, shifting the burden for paying for these services away from the taxpayer – millions of whom do not currently hold passports.

These reforms are part of plans by the Home Office to invest £100m on border security and infrastructure next year.

This forms part of the ongoing work to modernise and further strengthen the security of the border with 76% of eligible passengers now using ePassport gates which had a record 46.2m passenger crossings in 2017. Total Border traffic is 250mn people.

www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-proposes-changes-to-passport-application-fees

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