How to swerve the latest passport price rise – and the popular hack to save you hassle and money

The price of a British passport will increase by 7 per cent next month. The move, announced by the Home Office just three weeks ahead of the rise, will see the cost of a straightforward online application jump by £6 to £94.50 on 10 April 2025.

Why is this happening? Can you dodge the rise? And how does the cost compare with other European countries, in particular Ireland? These are the key questions and answers.

Yes. The rise on all passport fees is a uniform 7 per cent – more than twice the current rate of inflation. There was a 9 per cent increase in February 2023, and a further 7 per cent rise in April last year. It takes the cumulative rise in barely two years to 25 per cent.

The government says: “The new fees will help the Home Office to continue to move towards a system that meets its costs through those who use it, reducing reliance on funding from general taxation.”

Ministers insist the government does not make any profit from the cost of passport applications.

In addition, the Home Office says most people get their passports swiftly. Of every 1,000 straightforward applications, all but three are processed in three weeks or less.

The website PassportWaitingTime.co.uk says the average renewal of an adult passport currently takes 10 days.

Good question. Straightforward renewals are done online, with costs kept down as a result. Yet the fee – now rapidly approaching £100 – is nearly seven times the cost of a driving licence renewal, which is also an online proposition.

It is instructive to see where else the fees are going. Part of the revenue pays towards the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders. This looks unfair: people like me who are lucky enough to travel frequently will benefit disproportionately, even though we all pay the same for a passport.

The fee also goes towards “consular support overseas, including lost or stolen passports”. A niche issue, and arguably one that the affected travellers – or their travel insurers – should be fully funding in terms of lost or stolen passports.

Perhaps. I calculate you will be better off renewing by 9 April (the day before the increase) if these two conditions apply:

If you travel frequently to the European Union, possibly.

After Brexit, the UK asked for British travellers to be treated as “third-country nationals” by the EU and wider Schengen Area – complete with passport stamping on entry and exit. One passport page is consumed for every two return trips.

The issue is not actually about trips to Europe, because under Schengen Area rules border guards must attach extra sheets of paper if necessary; it is because many countries outside Europe demand a clear page – or two – for their visas.

Paying an extra £12 (soon to be £13) buys 20 extra pages.

Poorly. The UK passport is among the most expensive in Europe. The price rise will put British passports almost on a par with Italy (€116/£97) and Denmark (Dkr893/£100).

Switzerland is the only one that is significantly more expensive (140Sfr/£123).

Yet Switzerland and many other Schengen Area nations have an ID card alternative which is much cheaper and allows travel to more than 30 nations (but not the UK).

Anyone with the good fortune to have been born on the island of Ireland – or with the foresight to have Irish ancestry – is in the strongest possible position and might as well let their British passport lapse.

Irish passport holders travelling to the Schengen Area can use the fast track queue. They will not be subject to the entry-exit system red tape, nor will they need an Etias. And the restrictions on the time British people can spend in the EU do not apply.

From 2 April, every foreign visitor to the UK except the Irish will need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). That will make an Irish passport the most powerful in Europe, if not the world.

Irish passports are significantly cheaper than the UK – about £25 less, though extra charges for postage will reduce the savings.

Crucially, the republic also has much lower charges for children’s passports, which are valid for only five years rather than 10.

A family of four will spend £312 on UK passports from 10 April – almost twice as much as for Irish passports, currently €190 or £160.

In some circumstances: if you are visiting “incompatible” countries such as Israel and some Middle East nations; or if your employment or lifestyle requires you apply for visas that take a long time, while also having to travel abroad.

Applications are straightforward if you have reasons for needing a second passport.