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The cost of a passport is just stupid

282 replies

SoloTripSoloVibes · 27/11/2025 09:14

That’s it really.

£94.50 for the actual passport, which is alright, I suppose.

£10 for the pictures because you need the fancy digital codes now and can’t just have a picture

£10 for guaranteed postage of the old one back to them, because of course they can’t just have a database that they update to say that one has expired or been replaced.

£115 in total! Bring on the days that it becomes totally digital.

OP posts:
Passwordsaremynemesis · 27/11/2025 10:18

An Aussie passport cost me $412, about 200 quid, so the UK sounds like a bargain to me.

eqpi4t2hbsnktd · 27/11/2025 10:17

I just got mine redone and I had to go to the photo-me booth as every at home photo was rejected....

FakeGrassPlastic · 27/11/2025 10:17

If you were born before 1929 you can have a free passport age 96

Radiatorvalves · 27/11/2025 10:16

Such a shame we don’t have ID cards which enable us to travel in Europe without a passport. But we voted for Brexit. The gift that keeps on giving. And yes, for those of you that need British passports you will need a European visa fairly soon. Sorry I don’t know specifics as I am fortunate to have an Irish passport.

Pinepeak2434 · 27/11/2025 10:15

I recently renewed my sons, I took the photo on my iPhone, got him to stand in front of a white wall in my house then uploaded it online.
I desperately need to renew my own but mine is proving complicated as I got married in America and I need to send in my wedding certificate, but I was only given on a copy of a marriage licence.🤯

Stillpoor · 27/11/2025 10:13

Thechaseison71 · 27/11/2025 10:09

Not sure I've ever needed that to be honest. Is that a usual thing Don't remember it when renewed passport earlier this year

I had no proof of my mother so had to go down the legal route.
Also had no suitable countersigner.

Ohmygodthepain · 27/11/2025 10:13

Let's say you're fortunate enough to take a tow week foreign holiday every year. It works out at 67 PENCE per day of your holiday to have that passport. That's about 2 drinks out of your whole holiday budget, that I suspect is many hundreds of pounds a year, or thousands for the period of your passports validity.

I bet you don't pay for travel insurance either op, am I right?

TheNightingalesStarling · 27/11/2025 10:13

You could argue a £50 is just a piece if paper with that logic..

But you would complain if someone used it as kindling.

Christmascarrotjumper · 27/11/2025 10:12

Given they last 10 years, it's quite reasonable in my opinion. You can take pictures yourself and upload them.

Coffeeishot · 27/11/2025 10:12

Even if you are going to a photo booth or somewhere for your photos surely most people just factor the tenner into your travel budget?

5foot5 · 27/11/2025 10:12

SoloTripSoloVibes · 27/11/2025 09:46

But it’s not a tenner a year, is it? It’s £115 up front. You can’t pay it on a yearly basis

So now you can spend the next ten years putting aside £1 a month and the next time it needs renewing you'll be laughing, you might even have change! Same as you budget for everything else. Right?

Obviously the cost of the passport covers a lot more than the materials it takes to make it.

Stillpoor · 27/11/2025 10:12

Wickedlittledancer · 27/11/2025 10:10

Wouldn’t that be stat dec?

Yes sorry stupid phone today.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 27/11/2025 10:11

Cheaper at the Post Office. Complete digital application in branch, get the postage and the photo included in the fee and someone checks all the info is correct on the tablet for £16.

FakeGrassPlastic · 27/11/2025 10:11

£94 is less than £10 per year for a 10 year passport
I think that is good value

If you think that a passport is expensive, how will you afford to travel ?

Stillpoor · 27/11/2025 10:11

Coffeeishot · 27/11/2025 10:08

What was going on that all this was happening?

I couldn't find a suitable countersigner.
And also couldn't prove who my mother was, due to her giving a false name on my birth certificate.
Long story.
So had to go down the legal route.
Not cheap.

Wickedlittledancer · 27/11/2025 10:10

Stillpoor · 27/11/2025 10:07

Statutory declaration.

Wouldn’t that be stat dec?

Toooldforlonghair · 27/11/2025 10:10

Sometimes if you search for passport renewal the first thing that comes up will actually be a company that does what you can do yourself and charge for it with all sort of hidden extras (it's in their interest to find problems.) From your description OP it sounds like this is what may have happened to you. I have dual nationality and have not experienced any of the things you described when renewing either of them.

Dolphinnoises · 27/11/2025 10:10

And if you mean the EU visas, your passport isn’t going to get cheaper because we’re no longer an EU member. Less valuable (the UK passport has fallen from being the most powerfully in the world in the Henley index, to 6th) but not cheaper…

HeadyLamarr · 27/11/2025 10:10

You're whining. It's £94 and lasts a decade. Don't be such a cheapskate.

If you think it's too much, just stay home.

4FoxxSake · 27/11/2025 10:09

SoloTripSoloVibes · 27/11/2025 09:31

And the risk of it being turned down is a lot higher

Photos we take ourselves on a phone, had one rejected, uploaded another. Benefit of doing it all online. Took 10 days for the new passport to arrive. No drama.

Thechaseison71 · 27/11/2025 10:09

Stillpoor · 27/11/2025 10:07

Statutory declaration.

Not sure I've ever needed that to be honest. Is that a usual thing Don't remember it when renewed passport earlier this year

Wickedlittledancer · 27/11/2025 10:08

Thechaseison71 · 27/11/2025 10:05

What is stack deck?

Also never heard of that, even google doesn’t know.

Coffeeishot · 27/11/2025 10:08

Stillpoor · 27/11/2025 10:03

I tried 3 times to get my passport turned down twice, so lost money.
I didnt give up 3rd time Lucky I got it.
It cost me more than, £115.
Because I had to get stack Decks signed via a solicitor.
And stack deck from my sister.
It all added up.
I finally got my passport without a countersigner and without proof off my mother.

What was going on that all this was happening?

Stillpoor · 27/11/2025 10:07

Thechaseison71 · 27/11/2025 10:05

What is stack deck?

Statutory declaration.

Wickedlittledancer · 27/11/2025 10:07

I also did a photo on my phone and uploaded it, it tells you if it is acceptable. It works out at a tenner a year, as others said, so not great up front but also not a big cost over its lifetime.

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