Need to renew your UK passport? Apply before the end of the month to save money

UK passport application fees are set to rise from 2 February 2023.

This is the first time in five years that the country has increased the cost of applying for a passport.

The government says the new fees will help reduce the reliance on taxpayer money to fund and improve the service.

As well as contributing to the cost of processing applications, the fees will support consular services overseas, like replacing lost or stolen passports, and the processing of British citizens at UK borders.

The increased fees will apply to both new passport applications and renewals.

The proposals, which are subject to Parliamentary scrutiny, would see the fee for a standard online passport application made from within the UK rise from £75.50 (€85) to £82.50 (€93) for adults and from £49 (€55) to £53.50 (€60) for children

Postal applications will increase from £85 (€96) to £93 (€105) for adults and £58.50 (€66) to £64 (€72) for children.

In France, the adult fee for a passport application from within the country is €86. However, if you are replacing your passport because it no longer has blank pages or because your address or name has changed, it can be replaced free of charge.

Italy’s adult passport fee is €73.50. An additional yearly stamp duty of €40.29 was abolished in 2014. It now only needs to be paid once for each application bringing the total up to €116.

For Spanish passports, the renewal fee is significantly lower at €30.

For all of these countries, including the UK, adult passports are valid for 10 years (or five years for those under age 30 in Spain).

However, since Brexit, UK citizens need to be cautious of their passport expiration date.

Previously, Brits could travel in the EU up to and including the expiry date on their passports.