Why are Northern Ireland’s passport fees so high?
The costs of travelling to Northern Ireland have been soaring in recent years, with the average price of a Northern Irish passport now topping £18,000.
The cost of a passport in Northern Ireland can vary significantly depending on which visa type you choose, and the Northern Ireland Passport Council has said it will review this year’s visa cost.
The council has said that the current visa fee is the most expensive in Europe, but that a visa fee of £5,000 was introduced in the autumn.
This year, there are also additional costs for people who have children under the age of six.
The cost for a new visa for a child under the child’s age can reach £10,000, and is also set to increase by £4,000 for a full-time student and £2,000 a student with more than one student.
There are also fees for people to buy their own car insurance, and a €5,200 fee for buying a car insurance policy in Northern Irish car dealerships.
For people who don’t have a job or are in an apprenticeship, the fee for a one-off job or training can be as high as €1,600.
But if you work for a company in Northern Britain or Ireland, you can apply for a British passport for up to a maximum of four years.
The new visa cost of £1,000 applies to Northern Irish citizens living in the UK, as well as EU citizens living here.
It also applies to those who live in Northern Italy and Portugal, but these costs are also covered by the new visa.
In Northern Ireland, the minimum fee is £4 and there is also a one day visa, which covers up to two weeks in Northern Europe.
This article was amended on 25 August 2018 to clarify the price of Northern Irish passports.
