The proposals from the Home Office, which remain subject to Parliamentary approval, would see the cost of a British passport rise from £72.50 to £85.00 on March 27, 2018 for postal applications.
However, for adults who apply for a new passport online, the fee is set to rise from £72.50 to £75.50, an increase of just £3.00.
Postal applications for a new child’s passport will increase by £12.00 in March, with the cost rising from £46.50 to £58.50 whereas the fee for online applications for a new child’s passport will rise by just £3.00, from £46.00 to £49.00.
Frequent travellers who apply online will not be affected by this new proposal, as the price for a jumbo passport with 16 extra pages is planned to remain at £85.50.
However, it may be wise to apply for a jumbo passport online, since those who choose to apply by post will be charged an extra £9.50, with the price increasing from £85.50 to £95.00.
For adults who need a last-minute passport, the premium same-day passport application process cost will surge from £128.00 to £177.00 for a standard adult document from March 27, representing a price increase of £49.00.
To beat the price rises before March 27, travellers should keep in mind that they can renew their passport at any time and that any remaining time up to a maximum of nine months on their current passport will be transferred to their new document.
This means that if a traveller’s passport is due to expire before December 27, they could get it renewed in the next few weeks to beat the price hike and not lose any time on the document. However, travellers with imminent travel plans should note that the new passport will take around three weeks to arrive.
This handy guide was provided by Airport Parking and Hotels (APH).
