High-tech security forces up passport price - again

The cost of high-tech security will push the price of a passport up by more that 50 per cent in a year.

The government has revealed that the price of a passport is to rise again - by almost a third - to cover the cost of new security measures including biometrics.

A standard passport currently costs £51 but this will rise to £66 - an increase of 29 per cent - while the price of a child passport will rise from £34 to £45.

The price rise, which is effective from 5 October, is the second fee hike in a year to cover the cost of improved security and background checks.

Prices rose in December last year, pushing the cost of a passport up from £42 to £51, which means the travel documents have seen their cost rocket 57 per cent since the project to improve security started.

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Home Office minister Joan Ryan said the cost of security "is a price that must be paid" to protect the integrity of UK travel documents.

One million biometric ePassports have been issued since March when the new style travel documents were launched.

Each passport contains a chip which stores a scan of the holder's passport photo, to increase security and comply with international standards.

The scans will be used to check passport applications against a database of known passport fraudsters.

From the end of August all UK passport applicants will receive the new-style passport when they next apply for or renew their passport.

Failure to have an ePassports programme in place before October would have had direct consequences for travellers. For example, because of US Visa Waiver rules, had the ePassport been unavailable hundreds of thousands of holiday makers would have had to pay for visas to visit the US.

There are currently around 47 million UK passports in circulation. Around 80 per cent of the population holds a passport - a big jump on the 24 per cent in 1984.