As of 2026, a standard adult British passport (for those over 16) will set you back £88.50 if you apply online. Yes, that’s right—eighty-eight pounds and fifty pence. It’s roughly the same as buying a decent jacket you’ll lose, or treating your entire family to a mediocre pizza dinner.
If you decide to go old-school and fill out a paper form, brace yourself: that costs £100.00. That’s eleven pounds and fifty pence extra just for the pleasure of using a pen and a stamp. It feels like paying a surcharge for a horse-drawn carriage when the bus is right there.
Why Is It So Expensive? (And Other Existential Questions)
People often ask, “Is the Queen secretly collecting a royalty on every page?” Sadly, no. The price includes a security fee (to stop people photocopying the Queen’s corgi) and a processing fee (which funds the person who double-checks your eyebrows match your baby picture).
Here’s a funny thing: a replacement passport for a lost or stolen one costs exactly the same. So if you accidentally leave yours in a pub toilet in Brighton, you’re out another ninety quid. That’s about twenty-three pints of ale. Or, as I like to call it, a very expensive mistake involving a hand dryer.
