Passport prices rise by 36%

A standard passport will cost £42

The price of a standard passport is to rise 36% - nearly 13 times the rate of inflation - to pay for new anti-fraud measures, the Home Office has revealed

The price of a 10-year passport will rise from £33 to £42, a child's passport from £19 to £25, and a 48-page "jumbo" passport from £40 to £54.50.

Collective passports, for schools and youth groups, will remain at £39.

More than half of the extra cash raised by these rises will help pay for projects such as the inclusion in passports of information identifying their owners - microchips containing fingerprints, for example, or pictures of their iris or other facial characteristics.

It will also fund fraud investigation units already operating in passport offices around Britain and better staff training, according to ministers.

The UK Passport Service said the rise was also needed to pay off its £26m debt to the Treasury for a 1999 computer crisis by October 2004.

In November the price of adult passports rose by 10% and children's by 19%.

The new fees will come into effect on 2 October, less than 11 months later.

Restrictions

Travellers will no longer be allowed to amend passports.

Newly-weds or parents who wish to add children will have to buy new ones regardless of how long their existing passport has to run, a Home Office spokesman said.

The cost of getting a passport quickly will also rise.

The guaranteed same-day premium service will rise from £78 to £89 for a standard passport, from £64 to £71 for a child's passport and from £85 to £95.50 for a 48-page passport.

The one-week "fast track" service will rise from £63 to £70.

Fees for applications made overseas to British consular posts will also rise, but they will continue to offer an amendment service.