Passport fees rise

Passport fees are to rise today, in accordance with government plans released in June.

Under the new fee - structure from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, adult passports will now cost £72 - a rise of £6 over previous prices.

Meanwhile, child passports will rise in price to £46 - an increase of £1 - while fees for jumbo passports now stand at £85.50, representing a price hike of £8.50.

The rise is intended to fund the work of consular officials, according to a statement from the Identity and Passport Service.

The statement said: "These increases have been introduced by the FCO to cover the growing cost of providing consular assistance to British passport holders overseas," the Identity and Passport Service explained.

Justifying the rise, Lord Triesman, Foreign Office minister, said: "British nationals make an estimated 65 million overseas trips a year. The majority of these, thankfully, are trouble free, but occasionally things do go wrong.

"Whether dealing with the victims of crime, sickness or other unforeseen circumstances, consular officials are at the forefront of providing assistance to distressed British nationals."

Digg    Reddit    Facebook    Tweet This