The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

melvbot

BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Cost of new passports to increase

The cost of getting a new passport is to rise by more than £5 - or 7% - with ministers blaming a drop in income following a fall in applications.
From 3 September, the cost of an adult passport will rise from £72 to £77.50 while a child's will rise by £3 to £49.
The recession has reduced the number of passport applicants, hitting revenues at the Identity and Passport Service.
Ministers said the hike, the first since 2007, would also help to pay for enhanced passport security measures.

'High standards'
More than eight million biometric passports - which have photographs and other personal details scanned onto them - have been issued since 2007.
Immigration minister Phil Woolas said the price increase would maintain "the high standards in customer service and document security British citizens have come to expect".

The price increase is not related to the cost of setting up the national identity card scheme, because revenue for the passport service is ring-fenced.



But the Conservatives said people were paying the price for the government's determination to proceed with ID cards.
"The government admits that it has no idea how many people will have to volunteer for ID cards before they cover their costs so it looks like the cost is being lumped onto our passports," said shadow home secretary Chris Grayling.
The Lib Dems said the cost of passports had more than quadrupled since Labour came to power.
"This price hike is exactly the kind of thing we can expect when the government starts to lose money hand over fist on ID cards," said its home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne.
The cost of fast-track renewal will rise by £15.50 with same-day service costing £129.50 and one-week renewal costing £112.50.
Those over 80 will continue to receive passports free.


PAST INCREASES
2007: £72
2006: £66
2005: £51
2003: £42
2002: £33

So in the past 7 years the cost of a passport has more than doubled and these embassy bods still only open for a few hours a day, scandalous.

__________________
The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth

somtamslap

I only use mine for crossing borders, for my extra pounds I'd like to be blown off at immi please, Phil.

BrucefarmerFANG

I have lost track of the "loss" of the U.K. Social Security records . Hope that the Passport Agency is not as lax . I do not mind paying for proffesionalism , if I can see it .As a U.K. taxpayer , I have no choice and little faith in the ability of my elected "Leades"

gjbkk

" proffesionalism "

The French would burn their MP in the streets. It seems the people in UK will accept anything without question these days.

as the Germans would say " the Brits have become a bunch of wixers"

Spin

Customer numbers down, prices go up.

England is the new Thailand

Dean

That's the first thing I thought of while reading the article. The British government expects a certain cash flow from issuing passports, doesn't get it and raises the cost of a passport. I'll bet giving 80 year olds free passports really eats into the profit margin.

Milkman

The costs may be going up because of the new technology, scanning Irisis, and putting in chips, etc.

But the UK emabassy should add extra pages for free!

The Fresh Prince

How much is a new one in Thailand these days? I've heard its even more of a bloody rip off here. I'm gonna need a new one after my next stamp.

gjbkk

^

I had to get one last year 10,600THB at the British Embassy

somtamslap

^ Bloody hell, thats dear. Did you opt for the extra pages? Must have. Mine cost me 6,900 bt last year.

The Fresh Prince

That sounds like a bloody rip off. Must have loads of pages in it.

That sounds more like it, but thats pretty much what I paid for my last one in 2003.

melvbot

Ive never heard of a passport costing that much

Passport fees

deano100

I think the cost has gone down over the last year in baht terms because of the exchange rate

Bobcock

I had a new passport last week.

it was 7192 THB

another 1600 or so for a 48 page.

blackgang

Consular services always were the cream of the crotch as far as any service to citizens has been concerned but they are sure of having money to pay for the many and endless benefits that they recieve as employees.
Parasite bastards.
Yanks pay $30 for a notary stamp that we can get at home from any bank for nothing.

gjbkk

oops,

yes sorry, I forgot I had a letter off them too

BobR

Makes perfect sense; as the weather gets colder, the sky gets more gray; the women get fatter and the prices get higher, they charge you more to leave. Why should you pay for security to verify who you are?

Tyler

Yep, mine went up last time, cos of the Bio-metric thingummy.

Tyler

If I didn't have a work permit, I would be very tempted to throw mine away. A flatmate of mine didn't have his checked for ten years and then only had to pay the max. overstay of 20k. He was worrying about it all the time though as if he had a traffic accident or even been witness to a crime he would have been up Mare-Nam key without a banana leaf.

Spin

Not so, the price rise this time is greed.

The price hike for the chip etc happened a couple of years ago.