The cost of an adult passport will increase from £66 to £72 this October, the third price rise in under two years.

The price increase was requested by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The body says it needs more funding to cover the cost of helping British travellers who get into difficulty abroad.

According to the FCO Britons make 65 million trips per year, three times more than in the 1980s. Britons who encounter problems while abroad such as lost passports, hospital visits, terrorist attacks and natural hazards make 3.5million enquiries at the 200 British consular posts around the world. The cost of dealing with these incidents is funded by part of the passport fee.

The last passport price increase, which took effect in October 2006, saw fees rise from £51 to £66. The increase was introduced to pay for improved background checks on applicants, face-to-face interviews for first-time passport applicants and the introduction of e-passports, which have a digital photograph in a microchip stored in the passport.

As well as the adult passport fee increase, from October 4, a child’s passport will cost £46.37, up from £45 and a “Jumbo” passport, which has 48 pages instead of 32, will cost £137.16, up from £114.50.

In the past two years travellers have had to cope with extensive changes to the passport application process. In 2005 applicants were required to meet strict new rules on passport photos, including exposing no teeth, no smiling and no hair across the face.

The new photo regulations led to thousands of applications being turned down and in December 2006 the Passport Agency, now called the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), was forced to back down over applying the same rules for babies, who now require their own passports, and may smile, show their teeth or dribble in their passport photos.

As of October 2006 all new British passports have been ePassports, which contain a secure chip storing the holder’s personal details and a scan of their photo, as well as other improved security features. The passports have been dogged by problems, including increased processing times and more recently, suggestions that the complex components may not last for ten years.

The next change will see face-to-face interviews required for first time applicants, from May in a bid to cut fraud. Of the 16,500 fraudulent applications made last year, 10,000 were successful, according to the Home Office.

Those who wish to apply for a passport need to collect the standard application form at the Post Office, order it online at www.passport.gov.uk or call the IPS on 0870 521 0410. The Check and Send Service, which costs £7 and is available at Post Offices and Worldchoice travel agents, will verify your photo and application form to reduce the likelihood of the application being turned down.

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