Guidance

Concessionary passports (accessible)

Updated 8 November 2022

About this guidance

This guidance tells HM Passport Office staff what a concessionary passport is and who can get one.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email Guidance & Quality, Operating Standards.

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Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 3.0
• published for Home Office staff on 28 September 2022

Changes from last version of this guidance

This guidance has been updated to reflect the change in our sovereign from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to His Majesty King Charles III.

Concessionary passports

This section tells HM Passport Office staff about concessionary passports for British nationals.

A customer whose identity has been confirmed and who is entitled and eligible for a British passport, will qualify for a concessionary (free) passport, if both the following points apply:

• they were born on or before 2 September 1929
• at the time of their application, they hold any British nationality

Customers who naturalised or registered as British nationals will still qualify regardless when they naturalised or registered.

Fees charged for concessionary passport applications

A concessionary passport is free of charge. If the customer is eligible for a concessionary passport, we will not charge them:

• for standard 32 page passports
• secure delivery fees to return the new passport or supporting documents to an address in the UK or overseas

Customers must pay the fee for any other or additional service they want; see Passport fees and Tiered Application Service guidance. For example, they must pay the full fee for a Frequent traveller passport or the service level element of the Premium and Fast track services.

Customers who are eligible for a concessionary passport do not pay the Post Office Check and Send fee if they use that service. If the customer has paid the Check and Send fee in error, they are eligible for a refund from the Post Office. You, the examiner, must send them Application Management System letter template 465 to explain how they can reclaim their money.

How to examine a concessionary passport application

The customer must apply using the most appropriate route for their needs and provide the expected documents for the service type they have asked for.

You must process the customer’s application using current guidance to establish their nationality, entitlement, identity and eligibility for the passport. You must ask for more documents if the customer only sends a 1 year restricted validity passport as evidence.

We charge customers for the service and product they ask for, if they are entitled to a concessionary passport, they will not be charged for it. For example, if they apply online, DCS (Digital Customer Service) will calculate what fee the customer must pay.

AMS: dealing with concessionary passports

You, the examiner working on AMS (Application Management System), must check the customer has paid the correct fee if:

• you change the customer’s date of birth on their application (as their eligibility for a concessionary passport may change)
• the customer has sent in a paper application form (as they may not know they can have a concessionary passport)
• the customer applied at a public counter
• the customer has asked for a different service or product since they sent us their application

AMS will show a customer can have a concessionary passport, by removing the cost of a passport from the fees and payments table in the fees section on screen. You, the examiner, must check the customer’s date of birth is correct on their application on AMS and ask for the fee, or refund any overpayment.

DAP: dealing with concessionary passports

You, the examiner working on DAP (Digital Application Processing), do not need to check if the customer is entitled to a concessionary passport. DAP will automatically calculate the fee required based on the customer’s date of birth.

DAP will automatically transfer the application to AMS if you manually change the customer’s date of birth, and this affects the customer’s entitlement to a concessionary passport (for example a fee is now due, or a refund is needed). Because DAP completes automatic checks at different points in an application’s progress, the transfer to AMS may not happen until you complete the tasks and select submit.

The AMS examiner will check the fees paid and ask for the fee, or refund any overpayment.

Refunds of historical concessionary passport fees

We will process any request for a historical refund of a concessionary passport fee through our Customer Service Management team (CSMT). CSMT will arrange an appropriate refund if the concessionary passport was:

• applied for between 19th May 2004 and 18th October 2004
• issued after 18 October 2004 and the standard fee was paid but not refunded by the examiner

Concessionary passports: urgent travel

The customer must apply to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office if they are overseas and are unable to wait for us to issue their new passport. They must apply for an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) if they need to travel urgently or there is an emergency.

Customers who would get a concessionary passport must pay for an ETD, no refund will be given.

Types of concessionary passports

This section tells HM Passport Office staff about the different types of concessionary passports and whether we can use them as evidence of the customer’s nationality and identity.

On the 19 May 2004, the Home Secretary announced a series of measures to recognise the contribution of British nationals to the war effort. One of these measures was to provide a concessionary passport to people old enough to take part in the first or second world wars.

There are 2 types of concessionary passport in circulation:

• a passport valid for 10 years, that we issue to customers born on or before 2 September 1929
• a passport valid for 1 year, that we issued in 2004, to former veterans born on or before 2 September 1929, their spouses and carers to attend commemorative events that year

Concessionary passport valid for 10 years

HM Passport Office has issued concessionary 10 year passports since 18th October 2004 to British nationals born on or before 2 September 1929. We issue 10 year passports when we have established the customer’s identity and nationality.

Concessionary passports valid for 1 year

To help former veterans born on or before 2 September 1929, attend commemorative events in 2004, HM Passport Office issued 1 year restricted validity passports free of charge to veterans, their spouses and carers.

These passports have a vignette added to the passport showing:

“This passport is valid for 12 months. Issued by the UK Passport Service to enable the holder to attend a Second World War 60th anniversary commemorative event”

You must not use these passports as evidence of the holders’ nationality, entitlement or identity, as we could not always fully check these when we issued a 1 year passport. You must ask the customer for:

• their supporting documents to confirm their identity and nationality
• a fully completed application, including a countersignatory or digital referee