UK Passport Information Guide

In the times that we live in, a person seems to be non existent if he or she does not exist on paper. A passport serves just this purpose. It is a declaration of a person’s identity and his nationality. A passport does not necessarily allow a person to visit any other country but allows the person to leave and re-enter the country where it was issued. The British passport is issued by Identity and Passport Service in the UK and by the Governor in British Overseas Territories. It allows its holders to visit numerous countries visa free including Canada, Germany, Italy and all countries that are included in the European Union.

The colour of the British passport is burgundy. This format of the passport was introduced in 1988 prior to the old Blue British passport. However, in 2006 the new UK biometric passport was introduced. This passport is machine readable. It has European Union written on the top with United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island under it. The coat of arm of the United Kingdom is inscribed in the middle. The word passport follows along with the biometric sign below. It has 32 or 48 pages.

The last page of the UK passport includes data such as a picture of the passport holder which should have been taken within the last 6 months in a light background and of the full face with its shape not being hindered by hair. The picture may be coloured or black and white. The data also includes type, code of issuing state, passport no., surname, given names, nationality, date of birth, sex, place of birth, date of issue, authority, date of expiry and the holder’s signature. At the end of the page is the machine readable code.

The British passport can be issued to British Citizens, British Overseas territory citizens, British overseas citizens, British subjects, British protected persons and British Nationals who are living overseas. If the passport is issued to a person of over 16 years, it is valid for 10 years otherwise normally for 5 years. A person holding British passport may be a dual passport holder as well. If a person is a UK passport holder, marriage alone will not entitle his or her spouse to be a holder too. The spouse will have to reside in the UK for a consecutive period of 3 years after which he will apply for naturalization certificate through Home Office. On obtaining it, he may apply for passport. Furthermore applicants need only supply original documents with their applications otherwise request for passport may not be entertained.

The British passport has many blank pages to accommodate various stamps of different countries visited by the holder. If the pages finish, new blank pages cannot be added to the passport but a new passport will have to be issued.

The cost of obtaining a British passport issued in the United Kingdom was £72.00 in October 2007 which will rise to £77.50 from September 3rd 2009 due to increased passport security measures. The passports issued outside of the United Kingdom by the British consulate or British Embassy cost £124.00 starting July 2009.

A new British passport will be available starting October 2009 which will have enhanced security features in light of identity theft and fake passports. This passport will hold the feature of fingerprint biometrics.