The Department of Internal Affairs deputy chief executive service delivery and operations Maria Robertson has announced the second of three planned increases in passport and travel document application fees that will come into effect from May 25, 2023.
From May 25, the price of an adult passport will increase from $199.00 to $206.00, and the price of a child passport will increase from $115.00 to $120.00, including GST.
The passport service is funded on a cost recovery basis, and its fee structure undergoes regular reviews.
This increase is part of a series of yearly increases agreed by Cabinet on April 11, 2022, and announced by the former minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon Jan Tinetti, on May, 25, 2022.
This decision was driven by a requirement to return the passport service to full cost recovery after COVID-19 caused a significant and unexpected reduction in demand and revenue during 2020 and 2021.
Another factor driving the increases is the change in the validity period of New Zealand passports (from five years to 10 years) decided in 2015. This change means that costs need to be recovered from a smaller number of passports issued. Without an increase in application fees, the passport service’s costs would exceed its revenue.
“Application fees is how we pay for the passport service. Passport income has been significantly lower over the past few years, but the fixed costs to run the service – for things like our personalisation equipment – remain the same,” says Maria.
“This is why the small increase we are announcing is required.”
Passport applications dropped from more than 730,000 in 2018/19, to just over 150,000 in 2020/21. Demand for passports increased in 2022, but the income loss from the previous years makes the scheduled fee adjustments necessary to keep the service running.
“I am confident this outcome is the best balance between keeping the fees increase to a minimum and making sure the costs to run the passport service can be met,” says Maria.
The increase this year will be followed by a similar increase in 2024, a decision that was made to avoid a more significant one-off increase this year.
