The world’s most expensive passport is about to get even pricier
Exclusive: British passports are relatively expensive, but still less than half the cost of those issued by Canberra
KickT
Australia has long topped the league table for the price of passports – and, from New Year’s Day, leaving the country will become even more expensive.
Between the start of 2024 and 2025, the cost of a 10-year adult Australian passport rose twice, with the increases amounting to 19 per cent. Currently the price is A$412 (£205), believed to be the first time a standard passport has topped £200 anywhere in the world.
The price is set to increase still further on 1 January 2026 in line with inflation. The Independent calculates the new price is likely to be A$426 (£212).
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which issues passports, says the document “has a high security photo page made of layered plastic”. The passport is said to be“harder to forge and less susceptible to damage”. The visa pages show 17 Australian landscapes “in spectacular true colour”.
A family of four, including two children under 16, will pay almost A$1,300 (£646). Applicants are told to allow six weeks for a passport, compared with three weeks in the UK.
For comparison, a UK passport is less than half as much as the standard Australian travel document, at £94.50. The price increased in April this year, with no current plans for the next rise.
The monthly cost of an Australian passport will be £1.77, compared with just 79p in the UK.
Australians aged 75 and above can get a half-price five-year passport if they do not expect to be able to make use of a 10-year one.
While visitors to the UK and Ireland do not need any spell of minimum validity, Australians travelling to the rest of EU and wider Schengen area must have at least three months remaining on the day they intend to leave the European bloc – reducing the value of their passport.
The Independent has asked the Australian government to comment.
The UK passport is among the most expensive in Europe. The only nations with significantly higher prices are:
Switzerland and many other Schengen Area nations have a national ID card alternative which is much cheaper and allows travel to more than 30 nations (but not the UK).
Any British or Australian resident who is entitled to an Irish passport can enjoy unfettered access to the UK and the Schengen area for an outlay of €90 (£79), including an overseas postal fee.
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