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Guidance

Types of British passports: caseworker guidance

Tells HM Passport Office staff about the different types of British passports they may receive as part of a passport application.

Updates to this page

From:
HM Passport Office
Published:
30 March 2021
Last updated:
5 May 2026
Show all updates

  1. This guidance has been updated to explain the new UK series D e-passport is being introduced from December 2025.

  2. This guidance has been updated to show the design of the standard blue passport books has changed to show ‘His Majesty’, remove reference to specimen passports for entertainment purposes as HM Passport Office no longer provides this service, and align the terminology used for UK series C e-passport (blue e-passport) also known as new blue passports.

  3. Updated guidance

  4. Accessible version added.

  5. First published.

Documents

Types of British passports (accessible)

HTML

Types of British passports

PDF, 164 KB, 9 pages

Details

This guidance tells HM Passport Office staff about the different types of British passports that customers send in as part of a passport application. It explains what the passports look like and some of their identifying features.

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