The government has announced a modification to British passport applications and renewals which will affect anyone who’s applying for the travel document.
Announcing the proposals, the Home Office said there’ll be more increased prices on all passport applications and renewals.
The modifications will be introduced next month, so if you need to renew your passport you should apply shortly to sidestep the increased costs.
This rise is the first time the cost of applying for a passport has gone up in five years.
The fee for a standard online application made from within the United Kingdom will increase from £75.50 to £82.50 for adults and £49.00 to £53.50 for children.
Postal applications will rise from 85.00 to £93.00 for adults and £58.50 to £64.00 for children.
The Home Office said that prices for a priority service, which permits travellers in rapid need of a passport, for instance, if they lost it and required it fast, were being aligned so customers will pay the same.
The new prices for anyone applying for or renewing a UK passport will be introduced from February 2 this year.
The rise in price is subject to approval from Parliament.
The Home Office said that higher application costs would mean that the system would better cover the costs of passport applications.
The department added that this would make the process less reliant on general taxation as the government doesn’t benefit from passport applications.
Announcing the shift, the Home Office said that the new costs would enable the Home Office to shift towards a system that fulfils its costs through those who use it, decreasing dependence on funding from general taxation.
The Home Office said that the government doesn’t make any profit from the cost of passport applications. The fees will also contribute to the cost of processing passport applications, consular support overseas, including for lost or stolen passports, and the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders.
The Home Office said that the increase will also help the government to continue improving its services and that the new prices include those newly applying for or renewing their passport.
The Home Office added that since January last year, over 95 per cent of standard applications had been processed within 10 weeks and customers were advised that they should apply in good time before travelling.
Between March and July last year, more than 300,000 people were forced to opt for costly fast-track services to make sure passports arrived in time for travels abroad. Figures show that during this time the Passport Office took in £30 million more than in the same time period in 2019.
Does this mean you get a free passport if you come in by dinghy? Along with a house, car, free healthcare and lifetime benefits because charges are only for us mugs.
Everything is complimentary if you come by dinghy, courtesy of the overburdened UK taxpayer, and there was me believing that leaving the EU would get rid of boat people, how wrong was I!
And our ironic or iconic passports will be made in the EU, so it will certainly be a European affair, and they will be made in Poland by a French-Dutch company.
Gemalto won the contract to make the passports provoked much debate in 2018, and the UK government said the last steps of manufacturing would take place in the United Kingdom to ensure no confidential data left the country.
Thanks to Brexit we will now have blue passports, which will be made in the EU – oh, the irony of it all. So, the question is, how has Brexit benefited anyone in the United Kingdom?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 