It happens to the best of us. You’re about to check into your flight and then you realise: You’ve got less than six months left on your passportor even worse, you can’t find the blasted thing! It’s a mad dash to the passport office – which is where!? – to get a new passport – which is how much?!
If you’ve got yours running down the clock, let this be a warning to renew your passport now, as the cost (like everything these days) is going up next month! On April 11the government will introduce new UK passport fees for all applications. Currently, it costs £82.50 for an adult (16 and over) to order a standard passport online, but this rises to £88.50 in April.
What are the new fees?
- An online application from within the UK will rise to £88.50for adults (from £82.50) and £57.50 for children (from £53.50)
- A postal application will increase to £100 for adults (from £93) and £69 for children (from £64)
- If applying from overseasonline applications will now cost £101 for adults and £65.50 for children, while paper applications will cost £112.50 for adults and £77 for children
If you need to get a passport urgently, it will cost even more…
The Home Office has said that the rising UK passport fees will go towards processing applications, delivering passports and other associated operations – as well as, the cost of overseas support, such as lost or stolen passports and processing British citizens at UK borders. Adding that, “The government does not make any profit from the cost of passport applications.”
Can I get a new UK passport for free?
Yes, but you need to be 94 years, 6 months and 19 days old or older (as of March 21, 2024). Anyone born on or before September 2, 1929can get a free passport. The scheme was introduced in 2004. It’s to commemorate the wartime efforts of anyone 16 or older at the end of World War II.
