Website of the UK government

The cost of a child passport

A first child passport costs £49 for standard service and £96.50 for the one-week Fast Track service. The Premium service is not available.

Renewing a child passport costs £49 for standard service, £96.50 for the one-week Fast Track service and £109.50 for the one-day Premium service.

You can find detailed information in the section 'Passport fees, how long it takes and urgent applications'.

• Passport fees, how long it takes and urgent passport applications

The application form

How to get it

You can get the form in four ways. You can:

• collect it from a Post Office branch that offers the Passport Check & Send service
• request an application form online and IPS will send it to you in the post
• call the Passport Adviceline 0300 222 0000 and ask IPS to send it to you in the post
• complete the application online, in which case IPS will print out the completed form and send it to you to sign and return with supporting documents

• Find your nearest Check & Send Post Office Opens new window

• Find your nearest Check & Send Post Office (Northern Ireland) Opens new window

• Request a passport application form Opens new window

• Online passport application form explained

• Complete the application form online Opens new window

Who needs to sign it

The child's parent or someone with parental responsibility should sign the form.

If the parents are divorced but were:

• married at the time of the child's birth (or when the mother became pregnant, for those living in Scotland)
• married at any time after the child's birth

either parent can sign, unless there is a court order about parental responsibility or about the child having a passport. If there is such a court order you should send it to IPS with the application. 

Note that a custody or maintenance order does not automatically take away the other parent's parental responsibility.

If the parents are not married to each other, the mother can give permission. If the father is not married to the child's mother (and is not divorced from her as described above), he can give permission only if:

• he has a parental responsibility order or agreement (in which case he should send this with the application)
• he is named on the birth certificate and the birth was jointly registered on or after 15 April 2002 in Northern Ireland, 1 December 2003 in England and Wales, 4 May 2006 in Scotland

If another adult is acting as parent they should send proof of their parental responsibility to IPS.

There is more information about parental responsibility in the parents section.

• Parental rights and responsibilities (parents section)

If your child is 12 or over, they should sign and date section 6 (leave section 6 blank for children under 12).

If your child is 11 or under, the passport application must be countersigned at section 10.

The person you ask to countersign should be someone who has known you (the parent or carer) for at least two years. They must:

• be over 18
• hold a current British or Irish passport
• be willing to write their passport number on the form

They should work in a recognised profession or otherwise have good standing in the community.

You can find a list of suitable professions by following the link below to 'Who can countersign your application?'

You should ask the same person to certify one of the child's photographs. They do this by writing on the back:

• 'I certify that this is a true likeness of [Miss, Mr or other title and full name of the child]'

They must then sign and date the statement.

• Who can countersign your application?

• Passport photos and who can certify them

First child passport - supporting documents you will need to provide

IPS needs to see original documents that prove your child is British. IPS does not accept photocopies of documents or documents that have been laminated, but will accept documents that are laminated for Braille labelling.

A birth certificate is not considered absolute proof of identity. Even if your child was born in the UK, IPS may ask to see further documents.

The documents IPS needs to see depend on where your child was born.

If you are still not sure what you need to send after reading the details below, you can call the IPS Passport Adviceline 0300 222 0000.

If the child was born or adopted in the UK

IPS needs to see the child's full birth or adoption certificate showing parents' details and one of the following:

• the mother's UK birth certificate, or her Home Office certificate of registration or naturalisation, or her passport that was valid at the time of the child's birth
• the father's UK birth certificate, or his Home Office certificate of registration or naturalisation, or his passport that was valid at the time of the child's birth* and the parents' marriage certificate

Note*: if the passport expired before the child's birth, you need to send the passport on which the father entered the UK.

If the child was born outside the UK

IPS needs to see the child's full birth or adoption certificate showing parents' details and one of the following:

• the mother's UK birth certificate,* or her Home Office certificate of registration or naturalisation, or her passport that was valid at the time of the child' birth
• the father' UK birth certificate,* or his Home Office certificate of registration or naturalisation, or his passport that was valid at the time of the child's birth and the parents' marriage certificate*

Note*: if the child has a birth certificate issued by a British consulate or high commission, you can send that instead of birth/marriage certificates.

If you are sending the father's documents, IPS also needs to see the parents' marriage certificate if the child was born before 1 July 2006. 

If the child was born outside the UK but has a certificate of naturalisation or registration from the Home Office

IPS needs to see:

• the naturalisation or registration certificate
• the passport on which the child entered the UK

Child passport renewal - supporting documents you will need to provide

In this case IPS will need to see your child's current or last passport.