New Document Issues

United Kingdom Passport

From December 2025, His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) will begin issuing a fully redesigned British passport in which the most visible change is the replacement of Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Arms with the coat of arms of King Charles III on the cover and title page.

The Home Office describes the redesign as the first ‘wholly new’ British passport configuration in five years and positions it as the most secure version of the document yet produced.

The update does not affect validity: passports bearing Queen Elizabeth II’s arms remain usable until their printed expiry date, but any new issue or renewal from December onward will adopt the new configuration.

UK passport cover (© HMPO).

The passport exterior remains the post-Brexit dark blue TD3 booklet introduced in 2020, but the central heraldic device now displays King Charles III’s arms, incorporating the Tudor crown in place of the St Edward’s Crown used in Queen Elizabeth II’s version. This change aligns the passport with other updated royal insignia (banknotes, coinage, official seals) progressively introduced since the King’s accession.