Tuesday 25 / March / 2025
London: Despite the delay of Brexit, the UK has started issuing burgundy passports without the words European Union.
The new passports were issued on March 30, a day after Brexit was to be finalised, as previously decided.
Some people have received the old burgundy passports because authorities have stocks of the older ones. The dark blue passports, pre-EU British passport design, are to be issued by the end of the year.
A representative of Britain's Home Office said that "in order to use leftover stock and achieve best value to the taxpayer", passports that include the words "European Union" will continue to be issued for "a short period".
The decision to remove the "European Union" label was made in the expectation that the UK would be leaving the EU at the end of last month, as scheduled.
A UK citizen who received the new ‘non-EU’ passport said: "I was just surprised - we're still members of the EU. I was surprised they've made the change when we haven't left, and it's a tangible mark of something which I believe to be completely futile."
