Passports

The power to issue Isle of Man British passports is derived from the Royal Prerogative. The Isle of Man is an issuing authority for British passports and complies with Her Majesty’s Passport Office issuance policy for British passports. On the Isle of Man this is formally exercised by the Lieutenant Governor on behalf of the Crown.

The powers of the Lieutenant Governor allow the issuance of an Isle of Man British Passport to:

a person resident in the Isle of Man; or
a person who is born in the Isle of Man and who is resident in the United Kingdom; for example a student at University; or
a person whom His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor considers there are exceptional grounds for example a person born overseas to parents who were Isle of Man born, and were serving in the RAF or Navy at the time the child was born and the child was then brought up in the Isle of Man and went to University in the United Kingdom.

The powers of the Lieutenant Governor do not extend to the issue of passports to British nationals resident overseas where the Prerogative is exercised by the Home Secretary exclusively.

Overseas applications

An applicant resident overseas must apply online through the overseas passport services of Her Majesty's Passport Office.

Important information

The Cabinet Office strongly advises against the booking of travel before an individual has received their valid passport. The Cabinet Office accepts no responsibility for travel booked by applicants that cannot be fulfilled due to non-receipt of their passport.

The Cabinet Office shall have no liability for any delays, or for loss of or damage to any passport or other documents, caused by, or occurring whilst any application, passport or document is in the possession of, any postal or courier service.

It is each individual's responsibility to check that the temporary passport will be accepted by each country they intend to travel to before making their application. The Cabinet Office accepts no responsibility for travel booked by applicants that cannot be fulfilled due to non-acceptance of the temporary passport by the country an individual is travelling to.

The refunding of passport fees is publically available on the Her Majesty's Passport Office website. A link is on our website home page. In addition to Her Majesty's Passport Office refunding policy, the Cabinet Office will consider refunding all or part of the passport fee where the Isle of Man Passport Office has been unable to meet the same day or 5 day service as a result of circumstances within its control or where we have overcharged the customer. Fees will not be refunded for failed or withdrawn passport applications. In the case of withdrawn applications, there is no provision for fees to be held over until such time as a subsequent application is made.

A replacement passport will be issued Free of Charge where it is clearly identified that the passport contains an error that was made by the Isle of Man Passport Office during the examination, input or validation process. The passport being replaced must be valid, in date, and not damaged. On occasions it may be necessary to process an emergency same day or a 5 day express and therefore waive the express fee component.