How long does a passport last?

• Adult passports are valid for 10 years

• Children and those under 15 years of age are valid for 5 years.

Reasons why you may need to renew, replace your passport before it expires

You may need to renew your passport early due to one of the following circumstances:

1) f you are travelling to a country that requires a passport to be valid for at least six months beyond the date of entry.

2) If you have changed your name, gender, or nationality since your last passport was issued.

3) If your passport has been lost, stolen, or damaged.

4) If you need to update your photograph or personal details.

5) If you are travelling to a country that requires a visa and your passport does not have enough blank pages, or if you due to run out of pages in your existing passport soon, see jumbo passports.

If you passport gets lost, stolen or damaged during the expiry time

If your passport has been lost or stolen, you must first report it as lost to the passport office, before you can re-apply for a replacement or use the urgent passport fast-track service.

If your passport has been damaged, you will need to send your current passport with your application, However, a counter-signatory is still required, the same as for a lost or stolen passport.

If you are applying for a new passport due to damage or loss, you will need to pay the relevant fee even if your passport is still in date. The fee will depend on the type of passport you are applying for and the method of application. You can pay the fee by credit or debit card, or by cheque or postal order.

Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an acknowledgement letter. You will then need to wait for your new passport to arrive. The processing time for a replacement passport can vary, but it usually takes around six weeks, see the most up to date information on passport processing times.

Why are Child passports only 5 years?

Child passports are only valid for 5 years as they are more likely to be lost or stolen than adult passports. Additionally, the appearance of a child is likely to change more quickly than that of an adult, so a shorter expiry period is necessary to ensure the passport photo is still accurate.

I need to replace my passport, will I lost any expiry time from my old passport?

Renewing your passport can be a stressful experience, especially if you have a lot of time left on your current passport. You may be wondering if the HM Passport Office will move over the remaining time to your new passport. The answer is yes, but only up to a certain amount.

When you renew your passport, the HM Passport Office will move over any unexpired time from your old passport to your new one, up to a maximum of nine months. This means that if you have more than nine months left on your old passport, the HM Passport Office will only move over nine months of the remaining time.

For example, if you have 12 months left on your old passport, the HM Passport Office will only move over nine months of the remaining time to your new passport. The remaining three months will be lost.

It is important to note that the nine-month limit only applies to renewing your passport, due to expiring soon, loss, theft or damage.

Why on some occasions people will only be issued a 12 month passport

In some cases, people may only be issued a 12 month passport. This is usually due to the applicants circumstances in terms of their citizenship or another common reason can also be due to the applicant losing their passport more than once during a 12 month period in the past, therefore HM Passport Office in order to protect the applicant and their identity will then issue a shorter period of expiry due to the past issues with security of the passport.