Travellers will need to dig a tiny bit deeper into their pockets if they need to order or renew their Australian passport this year.
When the new year kicked in so too did new passport fees that see travellers paying up to $13 more for official documentation.
The changes actually aren’t too great, but to prepare you for your next client or for your own personal knowledge, here are the passport fee changes you need to know.
As of 1 January, the application fee for an ordinary Australian passport for an adult is $250 – $6 more than last year.
Fees for seniors and children have increased to $125, up from $122.
Frequent adult travellers have to fork out $10 more for an Australian passport, with the application fee increasing from $366 to $376. Frequent travellers over 75 and those younger than 18 will be charged $188 – $5 more than 2014.
Image: Neale Cousland/Shutterstock
Holidaymakers that leave their documentation to last minute will be charged a two-day turnaround fee of $111 – up from $3 last year.
Travellers with only one lost or stolen item in the last five years will only need to pay $3 more ($111) to replace their passport. However, those that have misplaced their official travel documentation three or more times in the last five years will be charged $13 more to replace the item, with a fee of $500 (the relevant lost or stolen fee is payable in addition to the normal application fee).
Document of the Identity for travellers who have lost their passports while travelling has only increased by $1 to $50. Fees for the Certificate of identity and UN Convention Travel Document have increased by $4 to $151.
Despite all the minor changes, one thing does remain the same – the fee for the observation made after the issue of a passport is still $15.
“Remember to safeguard your passport at all times. Please store it in the wallet provided to prevent damage. Additional fees apply to replace lost or stolen passports.”
Department of Fair Trading and Foreign Affairs
Happy travels!