British Passport - Fees

Fees

The cost of obtaining a standard passport over the years has increased greatly. While consumer prices in the UK have increased by 24% from early 1998 to 2009, the price of a passport renewal increased by 269%.

• £72.50 - 3 September 2012 - a decrease of 6.5%, as a result of a restructuring programme within the Identity and Passport Service that delivered savings of £40million in the previous financial year
• £77.50 – 3 September 2009 – an increase which the Government said was necessary due to a falling number of passport applicants, and also to pay for enhanced passport security measures. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said that people were paying for the price of introducing ID cards.
• £72 – 4 October 2007 – due to an increase in the consular premium added by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• £66 – 5 October 2006 – for the introduction of the latest generation passport, anti-fraud measures and interviews for first-time applicants
• £51 – 1 December 2005 – to reflect the cost of implementing key anti-fraud measures
• £42 – 2 October 2003 – to pay for new anti-fraud measures
• £33 – 21 November 2002
• £30 – 14 January 2002
• £28 – 16 December 1999 – to fund a major overhaul of the Passport Agency following the summer crisis
• £21 – 26 March 1998
• £18 – November 1992

The above fees apply for passports issued in the United Kingdom by the Identity and Passport Service.

Passports issued outside the UK by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The fees for purchasing a passport through the Regional Passport Processing Centre, British Embassy Paris.

• €170 (adults; 32 pages)
• €205 (adults; 48 pages)
• €108 (children)

The courier fee is at least €27, September 2012. The Western European Passport Service in Paris provides passports for applicants in Belgium, Egypt, France, Gaza, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jerusalem and The West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, The Netherlands, Yemen.

In 2011, the cost of an adult 32 page passport was £124, €152, or $211.

The Identity and Passport Service issued a fee breakdown in response to a request made under the freedom of information act in May 2008. Costs listed are Application processing, FCO consular protection, Book production, Secure delivery, Anti fraud initiatives, Authentication by Interview and Administrative.