HM Passport Office has issued a warning that some people across the UK may unknowingly be in possession of an invalid passport.
British citizens need a valid passport for international travel, with adult passports typically lasting 10 years and children’s passports five years.
At present, a UK passport costs £94.50 for an online application or £107 for a paper form, while a child’s passport is priced at £61.50 online or £74 via the paper form. However, upon receiving your passport, there is a crucial step to validate it – and failing to do so will render it unusable.
In a recent alert on X, formerly Twitter, the Passport Office warned: “Don’t forget to sign your passport! Most people over the age of 11 will need to sign their passport, and can’t use it until it’s signed.
“Unless your passport states ‘The holder is not required to sign’, you must use a black ballpoint pen [and] sign on the holder’s signature line.”
Guidance on Gov.uk further explains: “A sign after receipt passport is not a valid travel document until the holder has signed it. HM Passport Office tells customers to sign their new passport as soon as they get it.
“A passport may not be valid for travel if a customer has made a mistake when signing (for example, they have signed the wrong name). Passports that were issued with a digitally printed signature remain valid until their expiry date.”
Passport holders must not sign in pencil or coloured ink, use a signature or mark that is not their usual one, or add any extra information that is not part of their regular signature, as these actions could render the document invalid.
It’s also crucial not to erase a pencil-made signature as it could damage the page, and you should never cross out, alter, or use correction fluid on the signature.
