The Home Office has issued a warning to anyone with a British passport, urging them to renew their old-style travel documents before April 10 – or they may be forced to pay more
The Home Office is sounding the alarm for UK passport holders, urging a swift renewal of their travel documents before the Easter rush. Brits planning to jet off to EU destinations and further afield are being told not to dawdle over passport renewals.
With passport fees set to increase from Thursday, April 10, British travellers with passports nearing expiry are advised to act fast. The Home Office has confirmed to Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert (MSE) that “all applications received before this date will pay the current fee.
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“Don’t assume everything is fine just because your passport is valid for the duration of your stay,” warned MSE, the consumer finance platform helmed by the renowned BBC and ITV personality Martin Lewis. “Countries have a variety of rules about how long you need left, and how old the passport can be. Since Brexit, this includes most EU countries too.”
For all things passport-related, the Gov.uk website remains the go-to resource, offering services for first-time applicants, renewals, or obtaining a child’s passport, reports Birmingham Live.
Most people will have to cough up a fee to renew an existing passport or to apply for a new one, including those for children. At present, a standard adult passport, for those aged 16 and over, costs £88.50 when applying online, or £100 when applying using the paper form – but these prices are set to jump to £94.50 and £107, respectively.
Other price hikes coming into effect include the fee for a standard child’s passport going up from £57.50 to £61.50, or from £69 to £74 for a postal application. The fee for a Premium Service (one day) application will also climb from £207.50 to £222 for adults and £176.50 to £189 for children.
The cost of applying for a UK passport from abroad is set to rise by £7, taking the price from £101 to £108 for adults, and by £4.50, from £65.50 to £70 for a child’s passport. The fee for overseas standard paper applications will also see an increase, going from £112.50 to £120.50 for adults and £77 to £82.50 for children.
Guy Hobbs, a travel expert from Which?, said: “While these latest price rises may well reflect rising production or processing costs, the UK passport is now amongst the priciest in Europe – and travellers due to renew will likely be shocked by how much these little blue books now cost.
“Travellers should also be aware that from mid-2025 they will need to pay for an Etias [The European Travel Information and Authorisation System] to enter Europe.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The British passport is an invaluable document that allows millions of citizens to travel around the world.
“We are increasing the cost of applying for a passport to enable us to keep investing in our efficient and secure passport services and keep improving the quality of service British travellers expect.”
