British passport

British passport
The front cover of a British biometric passport issued since 2006
Date first issued	1915 (first 'modern' passport) 6 February 2006 (biometric passports) 5 October 2010 (2nd edition biometric passports) December 2015 (current version)
Issued by	United Kingdom
Type of document	Passport
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility requirements	British citizenship or any of the various other forms of British nationality
Expiration	10 years after issuance for individuals aged 16 and above; 5 years for citizens up to the age of 15
Cost	£72.50 (adult 32 pages) / £85.50 (adult 48 pages) / £46.00 (children under 16) / free (born on or before 2 September 1929)

British passports may be issued to people holding any of the various forms of British nationality, and may be used as evidence of the bearer's British nationality, and also, if applicable, evidence of the right of abode in the United Kingdom or evidence of citizenship of the European Union, or both. In 2016, British citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 175 countries and territories, ranking the British citizen passport third in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.

In the United Kingdom, British passports (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) are issued by HM Passport Office. In conjunction with the Post Office, it is possible to submit most passport applications at a number of branches.

On the Isle of Man and in Jersey and Guernsey, British passports are issued by the Lieutenant-Governor of the respective Crown Dependencies, on behalf of the Government of the Isle of Man and the States of Jersey and Guernsey, respectively.

In British overseas territories, British Overseas Territories Citizen passports are issued by the Governor of the territory, whilst British Citizen passport application are forwarded to the Passport Section of the appropriate Foreign Office mission covering the territory (e.g. the United States for all the Caribbean British Overseas Territories).