Travel authorization in Britain

Do you know why her majesty does not have a passport of her own? Any guesses? Well, the answer is that all the passports delivered, in the United Kingdom, are issued in name of Her Majesty, an authorization certifying safe-conduct of the holder of the document. Each member of the British Royal Family possesses their own passport except the crown Queen Elizabeth II. If you are looking for having any modifications made in your passport, feel free to contact the HMPO via dedicated passport helpline. This issuance of passport in the name of the Crown was quite evident from the quoted words motioned in the passport stating

“Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.”

It is requested from the princess allowing the holder safety, freedom in the country they visit with the British-passport. Since its origin, the British-passports have undergone various changes; few of these are listed below.

• Country name change

  In year 1972, the country name appearing on British-passport was changed from the former “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” to current version “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”

• Removing State Secretary name

  The name of Secretary-of-state was removed from the passports in the year 1954.

• Validity

  Earlier the passports were valid up to five years following which it used to be renewed till a period of ten years. But later on in year 1968, validity was doubled from initial five years but it cannot be renewed.

• Host of changes

  Last part of the year 1972 saw a series of changes made in British-passports. In order for avoiding unauthorised duplication and alterations, a blue-watermarked paper was introduced and the total number of pages was reduced by 2 to 30. It also involved removal of passport-holder’s eye colour and in case of married woman; their maiden-name too was removed.

• Optional Page

  The trimming of pages by 2 made it difficult for businessmen for their frequent visits. Hence, an optional passport with 94 pages was issued to such businessmen to facilitate immigration stamping and visa printing. This step was carried out in May month of 1973

• Lamination

  To curb the menace of forgery year 1975 saw introduction of lamination over the holder’s photograph and even overprinting was done on the lamination in 1981 to detect if the lamination has been tampered with or removed.

• Exchange controls

  Foreign exchange page in British-passport be eliminated in the year 1979 and the UK exchange controls were removed and so many changes followed to fine tune the British-passport that we hold today.

British-Passport quick help

For any queries, doubts, question regarding your passport Her Majesty’s Passport office has dedicated passport contact numbers 0300222000 and if you wish to reach out via text phone do so on 18001-0300-222-0222 open on all days of year.