Is a New Passport Too Expensive?
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Are we being ripped off by the cost of getting a passport?
A Spanish passport costs €30, while a British passport costs £88.50.
This is pretty typical of most things in Britain isn’t it. We pay over the odds for anything and everything and still get shoddy service.
To answer your question yes i think £90 is too much for a passport.
Spanish passport may be 30 euro but only lasts for
2 years if the applicant is under five years of age.
5 years if the holder was under 30 years of age on the day it was issued.
10 years if the holder is aged 30 or over.
UK adult - 16 & over is £88.50 (on-line) or £100 (paper) for 10 years
Child birth to 16 £57.50 or £69 for 5 years.
At a breakdown of £8.85/year and compared to one packet of 20 cigarettes around £15 I don't think so if you like travelling or need permanent ID and don't drive. 20 cigarettes in Spain is around 5 euro.
lilyflower So that's the catch.
In comparison, a Portuguese passport lasts five years and costs €65 (£55) so my Spanish neighbors have been getting ripped off by their government, but admittedly most of them don't use a passport as they have the EU ID cards (lasts for 10 years and only costs about €15/£12.70).
kikogpe They sure can't, at least not for now. Starmer's Administration said he wants to be "closer" with the EU so God knows what he meant by that.
Let's see if he lasts a whole term or ends up resigning. What happened in Leeds is just the beginning as more pour in to the country. Sigh.
Does anyone know how long the process takes for a child’s first passport? Online is definitely quicker but I’d like to have the passport just I’m in case.
Nie I believe around 3 weeks if all information is correct and countersig can be contacted. Best not put school teacher down as sometimes this causes delays.
Nie my little ones 1st passport came back in 10 days was shocked as expecting it to take ages guess time of year is a big factor eg school summer holiday's
Nie we had to get one for our youngest daughter, we did it with the post office, it took about 8 days in total
It’s quite expensive but it’s for 10 years so it’s almost like £10 per year. I think depends on how much and how you use it. I haven’t been abroad for a decade but thinking I might now I’ve renewed. Otherwise it’s very useful for ID situations for banks, voting, etc. So is it that bad?
I don't enter competitions for holidays abroad because my passport is out of date and I currently can't afford to renew it.
I think it's OK, for a 10 year passport. If you can afford to go abroad ,the extra cost once every 10 years is no big deal really, it's less than a fortnights parking at most Airports.
Yes, but I suppose it’s a luxury to be able to travel. We get charged a lot for things that are not as expensive in nearby counterparts
Seems too much but we really need to discourage travel as much as possible due to the environmental damage and the economic damage too.
It's not just the exorbitant cost of the passport but the time it takes and all the hassle involved.
Yes like a lot of things it costs too much that s why they call it rip off Britain government loves to make us pay
I can understand the initial costs of producing the first passport. Especially with all.of the checks that need to be done.
Surely the renewal passport etc could.be cheaper. Especially as many people just use them as a form of id if they can't drive or have no license
I do think its expensive, but when you break it down over the ten years it doesn't seem that expensive. Yet there are a lot of other countries that are much cheaper. As previously said on here it depends on how much you use it.
Well someone's got to pay for the RNL and the Navy to pick-up those in the boats.
The Spanish don't seem to have that problem.
I wouldn't mind, but they are not even printed in the UK.
oldman12 The Passport is made in Poland but your actual details are printed on it in UK, either at central or local print.
Like most things they are a high price, but when you can afford a cruise or holiday abroad, then I think it is a fair price, considering it for 10 years. £8.85 per year, think about it?
Yes but at least it's not that hard to get like in some countries.
£88 for 10 years could be cheaper but what can we do.
As well as for holidays it's handy to show as ID.
As ID is needed wherever you go
It costs £20 to renew a driving licence and £90 for a passport! Both last 10 years, both are forms of ID doesn’t make sense with a £70 difference?
However as we are British, they say we do in the politest fashion 
Yes it is, in other countries there are not paying so much.
We always have to find more!!
They are always putting the prices up on all the things we all need. Most places accept your passport as a form of Identification and won't accept anything else. People won't bother getting a new one if they continue putting the prices up.
j4mied4vies23 If you did it on-line you can track it with the code provided and part of the address that you sent your old passport to, it will start with PEX. If there were no problems with application the first you'll hear is when the new one arrives which will be separate to the old one.
I think it's a little overpriced but not too bad. Think there's room personally to make them a little cheaper imo
As it lasts for 10 years it doesn’t work out too expensive. You must be able to afford to go abroad so should be able pay for an up to date passport. Some people put money aside for holidays so do the same with passport .
I don't think they are expensive £90 for 10 years is good value in my opinion , European passports are good value really some only lasts a couple of years
This is rip off Britain I’m not surprised. If the country’s public sector was run in a more efficient way the passport would cost less amongst other things.
Britain isn't the only place over charging as the Italian passport costs about the same.
Renewal time is running under 2 weeks. Mine was a renewal and name change and I received a text and email at each stage, time line was
Application submitted 2:56pm on 7 July 2024
Application received 2:57pm on 7 July 2024
Documents received 12:26pm on 10 July 2024
Application approved 2:51pm on 17 July 2024
Passport printed 3:14am on 19 July 2024
Delivered 09:26 on 20 July 2024
j4mied4vies23 if you haven't got yours back I'd ring Customer Services and ask.
As lilyflower mentioned above, £8.85 per year doesn't seem too bad.
I go abroad 3 times a year, so less than £3 per foreign trip for me - I probably end up paying double that for a coffee at the airport!
We are always ripped off in this country so it’s not just passport. I was in Portugal recently and Andrex toilet paper was half the price to what it is here. That was just one product.
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