The price for adult and child passports are set to increase from tomorrow amid the impacts of Covid-19 and the cost of running the service.
From May 25, the price of an adult passport will rise from $199 to $206, while the price of a child passport will increase from $115 to $120, including GST, the Department of Internal Affairs' deputy chief executive, Service Delivery and Operations, Maria Robertson, announced today.
It comes as part of the second of three planned yearly increases in passport and travel document application fees, announced by former Internal Affairs Minister Jan Tinetti last May.
"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," the DIA said.
The price increase was also impacted by a decision in 2015 to increase the validity period of New Zealand passports from five years to 10.
The DIA said the change meant costs needed to be recovered from a smaller pool of passports.
"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. This is why the small increase we are announcing today is required," Robertson said.
Passport applications dropped from over 730,000 in 2018/19 to just over 150,000 in 2020/21. While demand for passports increased in 2022, the income loss from previous years makes the scheduled fee adjustments necessary to keep the service running, she said.
"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."
The price increase will be followed by a further increase next year.
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