UK Home Office raises estimate for passport contract to 12 years, £576M

The UK Home Office has opened a third round of market engagement for its next major passport manufacturing and personalization contract. It comes ahead of a formal procurement expected to start later this year.

The new agreement will replace the current contract held by Thales and is valued at an estimated 480 million British pounds (US$649 million) excluding Value Added Tax (£576 million, or roughly $779 million, including VAT). The estimated range for the contract value, however, spans from £400 million ($541 million) to £575 million ($778 million) before tax.

HM Passport Office (HMPO), which issues around eight million passports a year and is the sole passport provider for British nationals worldwide, is seeking suppliers capable of delivering a secure, end‑to‑end service.

The scope includes design artwork, manufacturing and personalization of UK e‑passports and variants for Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories, and including official, diplomatic, emergency and temporary passports. The personalization work includes visual and biometric elements.

The contract will include Biometric Travel Documents issued by UK Visas and Immigration; secure laminate for Emergency Travel Documents, and potential future products such as Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs). Suppliers will be required to support integration with HMPO systems, provide disaster‑recovery capabilities and meet international passport standards.

The estimated contract period runs from 1 August 2028 to 31 July 2040. The current contract was won by Thales in 2018 before DTCs existed. The UK Home Office appears to have increased the estimated cost and length of the contract after the first of its two preliminary market engagements for the tender last year, though not its scope.

The current Thales contract also covers Biometric Travel Documents for UK Visas and Immigration, including those issued to refugees and stateless individuals; UK passports and variants for Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories; official, diplomatic, emergency and temporary passports; and secure laminate for emergency and temporary passports.

The Home Office said certain elements of the service may be delivered offshore, provided suppliers meet strict security and regulatory requirements.

Interested organizations must register on the Home Office’s JAGGAER e‑sourcing portal and submit an expression of interest by 13 May 2026. Companies that participated in earlier rounds and have already signed a non‑disclosure agreement will not need to sign a new one but must confirm their continued interest.

A virtual supplier briefing will take place on 18 May, followed by a clarification‑question window running from 14 to 20 May. The Home Office plans to publish responses by 29 May.

The procurement is open to small and medium‑sized enterprises, and the tender notice is currently scheduled for publication on 16 November 2026. Further details can be found here.

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital travel credentials  |  government purchasing  |  Home Office Biometrics (HOB)  |  tender