Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Passport (Fees) Regulations 2022.

(2) These Regulations come into force 22 days after the day on which they are made.

(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“ appointment” means the appointment referred to in paragraph (3)(a);

“ collective passport” means a collective travel document issued to parties of young persons pursuant to the “European agreement on travel by young persons on collective passports between the member countries of the Council of Europe” done at Paris, on 16th December 1961( 2);

“ dependant” in relation to another person (“ P”), means a person who is P’s husband, wife, civil partner, son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, father, mother, grandson, granddaughter, grandfather or grandmother and who is financially dependent on P on the date on which the application is made by or in respect of P;

“ fast track collect service” means the service under which—

“ fast track service” means a service under which the administration of an application for a passport is to be completed within eight working days of that application having been made;

“ frequent traveller passport application” means an application for a passport which, if successful, would result in the issue of a passport of 50 pages;

“ over-16 prospective passport holder” means a prospective passport holder who is aged 16 years or over;

“ premium service” means a service under which—

“ priority services” means the fast track service, the fast track collect service and the premium service;

“ prospective passport holder” means a person who makes an application to be issued with a passport, or in respect of whom such an application is made;

“standard fee”, in respect of a passport application, means the fee, specified in the table in paragraph 2 of the Schedule, which—

“ standard passport application” means any application for a passport which is not—

“ under-16 prospective passport holder” means a prospective passport holder who is aged under 16 years;

“ working day” means a day which is not a Saturday or Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971( 3) in the part of the United Kingdom in which the application is administered.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, references to the administration of an application for a passport include—

(a) where necessary, arranging an appointment;

(b) receiving and processing all necessary evidence supporting the application;

(c) processing the application; and

(d) arriving at a decision on whether or not to issue the passport.

(3) An application for a passport is deemed to have been made—

(a) in the case of an application to be administered under the priority services, when the prospective passport holder or a person acting on their behalf attends an appointment at Her Majesty’s Passport Office with the necessary documentation enabling the administration of the application to be completed;

(b) for the purposes of any other application, when Her Majesty’s Passport Office has all the necessary information enabling the administration of the application to be completed.

(4) Subject to regulation 3(6), in these Regulations, any reference to the age of a prospective passport holder is a reference to their age on the day on which the application for a passport is made by or in respect of them.

Fees

3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) a fee is to be charged in respect of—

(a) the administration by the Secretary of State of applications for passports specified in Parts 1 to 3 of the Schedule; and

(b) the exercise of the functions of the Secretary of State specified in Part 4 of the Schedule.

(2) The fee specified in Parts 1 to 3 of the Schedule in relation to the priority services includes a fee of £30 for arranging the appointment (“the booking fee”).

(3) No fee is to be charged for administering a standard passport application where it is made by post or online (other than an application made under the priority services) if the prospective passport holder was born on or before 2nd September 1929.

(4) The fee payable by a prospective passport holder for an application is to be found in a table in Parts 1 and 2 of the Schedule that specifies fees for the type of application made and, within that table, is the amount specified in the entry in the final column that corresponds with the category of prospective passport holder (specified in the first column) into which the prospective passport holder falls and, where specified in the table, the place where they live, the method of application and the type of priority service under which the application is to be administered.

(5) The fee payable by a prospective passport holder in respect of a function specified in the table in Part 4 of the Schedule is the amount specified in the entry in the final column that corresponds with the function specified in the first column of that table.

(6) A prospective passport holder who is 15 years of age may, within 3 weeks before their 16th birthday, pay the fee payable by or in respect of a prospective passport holder of 16 years of age or over (but not a fee falling within paragraph (3)).

Waivers

4.—(1) Any fee for arranging delivery of a passport in relation to an application made outside the United Kingdom must be waived where the delivery of the passport is to a British Forces Post Office address or a United Kingdom address and the prospective passport holder—

(a) is a member of, or attached to, Her Majesty’s armed forces or a dependant of such a person, and the application is checked and submitted to Her Majesty’s Passport Office by armed forces personnel who are nominated for that purpose;

(b) is a member of, or attached to, Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service, or a dependant of such a person, and the application has been made in that official capacity;

(c) is an officer of Her Majesty’s Government( 4), or a dependant of such a person, and the application has been made in that official capacity; or

(d) was born on or before 2nd September 1929.

(2) Any fee that is payable by virtue of these Regulations may be waived where Her Majesty’s Government has activated Exceptional Assistance Measures overseas and the person required to pay the fee has been directly affected by the incident in relation to which the Exceptional Assistance Measures have been activated.

(3) Any fee that is payable by virtue of these Regulations may be waived where there is a crisis in the United Kingdom or overseas and the person paying the fee has been directly affected by the crisis.

(4) In this regulation—

“ crisis” means an incident in which at least five British citizens have been killed or injured, or are in danger of being killed;

“ Exceptional Assistance Measures” means measures activated in accordance with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office policy set out in the House of Commons written statement made on 10th December 2015: Exceptional Assistance Measures for Victims of Terrorist Incidents Overseas( 5).

Refund of fees

5.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the Secretary of State may refund any fee, or any part of a fee, paid under these Regulations.

(2) A fee charged under regulation 3(1) in relation to an application to be administered under the priority services may not be refunded if the prospective passport holder or another person acting on their behalf—

(a) has made an appointment; and

(b) fails to attend the appointment without informing Her Majesty’s Passport Office prior to the appointment that they were unable to attend the appointment,

unless the Secretary of State determines, in any particular case, that it may be refunded.

(3) The booking fee referred to in regulation 3(2) may not be refunded if an appointment is cancelled by the prospective passport holder or another person acting on their behalf less than 48 hours before the time when it is due to take place unless the Secretary of State determines, in any particular case, that it may be refunded.

Revocation

6.  The Passport (Fees) Regulations 2018( 6) are revoked.

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE FEES FOR PASSPORT APPLICATIONS ETC.

PART 1 STANDARD PASSPORT APPLICATIONS

1.  This Part specifies the fees for standard passport applications.

2.  Except where the application—

(a) is administered under the priority services; or

(b) is made by, or in respect of, a prospective passport holder who is in a category specified in the table in paragraph 5,

the fees are as follows—

3.  The following table and paragraph 4 specify the fees for applications administered under the priority services—

4.  The fee for applications administered under the fast track collect service is the relevant fee for the fast track service specified in the table in paragraph 3 plus—

(a) in the case of an over-16 prospective passport holder, £22.50;

(b) in the case of an under-16 prospective passport holder, £20.

5.  The following table specifies the fees for the purposes of paragraph 2(b)—

PART 2 FREQUENT TRAVELLER PASSPORT APPLICATIONS

6.  This Part specifies the fees for frequent traveller passport applications.

7.  Except where—

(a) the application is administered under the priority services;

(b) the prospective passport holder lives outside the United Kingdom;

(c) the application is made by post; or

(d) the prospective passport holder is in a category specified in the table in paragraph 12,

the fee is the standard fee plus £10.

8.  The following table and paragraph 9 specify the fees for applications administered under the priority services—

9.  The fee for applications administered under the fast track collect service is the relevant fee for the fast track service specified in the table in paragraph 8 plus—

(a) in the case of an over-16 prospective passport holder, £22.50;

(b) in the case of an under-16 prospective passport holder, £20.

10.  Where paragraph 7(b) applies, the fee is the appropriate fee specified in paragraph 2 for an application made by a prospective passport holder who lives outside the United Kingdom plus £10.

11.  Where paragraph 7(c) applies, the fee is the appropriate fee specified in paragraph 2 for an application made by a prospective passport holder by post plus £10.

12.  The following table specifies the fees for the purposes of paragraph 7(d)—

PART 3 COLLECTIVE PASSPORTS

13.  The fee for an application for a collective passport—

(a) made by post is £39;

(b) made in person is £54.

PART 4 FEES FOR OTHER FUNCTIONS

14.  The fees specified in the second column of the following table are payable in respect of the carrying out of the functions specified in the corresponding entry in the first column of that table.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations set out the fees charged under powers set out in the Immigration Act 2016 (c. 19)for administering applications for passports. The fees were previously included in the Passport (Fees) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. 2018/414) (“ the 2018 Regulations”) which are revoked by regulation 6 of these Regulations.

The 2018 Regulations provided for optional “priority services” offered by Her Majesty’s Passport Office, which were defined as the “fast track collect service”, the “fast track service”, the “premium collect service” and the “premium service”. These Regulations clarify the definitions of those services under which passport applications may be administered and specify that the fees for the priority services include a booking fee (regulation 3(2)). The Schedule to these Regulations sets out the various fees payable in a different format to that set out in the Schedule to the 2018 Regulations but does not change the fee amounts prescribed by the 2018 Regulations.

Regulation 3(6) provides that a prospective passport holder who is 15 years of age may pay the fee payable by a prospective passport holder aged 16 years or over (but not a fee falling within regulation 3(3)). In these circumstances the application will be administered after the prospective passport holder’s 16th birthday as if they had applied after that date.

No fee or a reduced fee is charged for most functions where the prospective passport holder was born on or before 2nd September 1929.

Certain fees may be waived as set out in regulation 4. Delivery fees are waived for certain members of the armed forces and Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service in some circumstances. Fees specified in these Regulations may also be waived as a result of a crisis or Exceptional Assistance Measures having been activated overseas by the Government. The circumstances in which these might apply, as set out in regulation 4, are comparable to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office policy on providing assistance to British nationals overseas.

Regulation 5(2) provides that the appropriate fee will not be refunded if a prospective passport holder fails to attend an appointment for their application to be administered under the priority services without giving prior notice. Regulation 5(3) provides that the booking fee in regulation 3(2) will not be refunded if the prospective passport holder cancels an appointment less than 48 hours before it is due to take place. In both cases, the Secretary of State may nevertheless determine to make a refund in any particular individual case.

Hard copies of the documents specified in these Regulations to which links have been provided may be obtained from Her Majesty’s Passport Office, P.O. Box 767, Southport, PR8 9PW.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument because no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.