§ The Earl of Mar and Kellieasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there is a real need to renew a passport; and whether they would consider making a passport into a lifelong document. [HL3480]
§ Lord Williams of MostynUnited Kingdom passports are normally limited to a maximum validity of 10 years in accordance with international practice, in particular the International Standards and Recommended Practice of the International Civil Aviation Organisation Convention on International Civil Aviation, first issued in 1949, to which the British Government are a signatory. One of the main reasons most countries issue passports with a maximum validity of 10 years is to ensure that the photograph in the passport, which links the person to the document, does not get too far out of date and can no longer be accepted as a true likeness of the holder. There would be problems in identifying the holder if a passport was made into a lifetime document. There is therefore a real need to renew a passport and issuing a lifelong passport document would not be appropriate.