Guidance

Deceased person's passports (accessible)

Updated 29 October 2026

Version 15.0

This guidance tells His Majesty’s Passport Office staff what to do when a person tells us about the death of a passport holder.

About: Deceased person’s passports

This guidance tells His Majesty’s Passport Office staff how to cancel a passport or manage a passport application if the passport holder or intended passport holder has died.

This guidance makes reference to:

• a death certificate, and when it does, it means the original document or an official copy
• an informant, and when it does, it means the person reporting the death to HM Passport Office (this may be a different person to the informant named on the death certificate)

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 15.0
• published for Home Office staff on 14 September 2026

Changes from last version of this guidance

This guidance has been updated to:

• make minor terminology changes throughout
• in the section Customer is deceased: evidence needed to withdraw the live application, to tell examiners what evidence they need from an informant
• in the section CSMT: dealing with death notification forms, to tell the Customer Service Management team (CSMT) how to process a death notification

Deceased person’s passport: how a death is reported to us

This section tells His Majesty’s Passport Office staff how we find out about the death of a customer and how we deal with the information.

The informant reporting a death of a customer should do so as soon as possible, so we can cancel the passport or current application. We must do this to help prevent the deceased person’s identity being used fraudulently.

If an informant tells you a British passport holder (for example their parent) has died and their passport is still live on our system, you must request evidence and cancel the passport.

Tell Us Once service

The Tell Us Once (TUO) service allows an informant to report a passport holder’s death to HM Passport Office, without the need to send us the passport. The informant can complete TUO online or by phone. Registrars will help the informant to use the online service.

TUO reports are dealt with by CSMT.

Death registered in England or Wales

Customer Service Management team (CSMT) can accept a death notification form without a death certificate, because they can check the death electronically. The fully completed form can be sent to CSMT by email.

Death registered outside England and Wales

If the customer’s death was not registered in England or Wales, the customer must send (by post) to CSMT:

• a What to do when a British passport holder dies form (D1); and
• the original death certificate

The informant dealing with a deceased person’s estate can tell us about the death by phoning the adviceline on 0300 222 000 or using one of the following services.

Death notification form (D1)

If the informant does not use the Tell Us Once service or they do not have the passport details available when they report the death with a registrar, they can:

• print a What to do when a British passport holder dies (D1) form from GOV.UK; or,
• contact our customer adviceline and ask for a D1 form

If the passport has been lost or stolen, the informant must send CSMT:

• a death notification (D1) form (this can be emailed to CSMT for deaths registered in England and Wales only); and,
• the original death certificate (this is not needed if the death is registered in England or Wales)

CSMT will process the D1 form to electronically cancel the passport on our system. The customer will be told to physically cancel the passport on the D1 form.

Reporting a death overseas

When a death occurs outside the UK, the informant must deal with the deceased person’s passport at their nearest British Embassy, High Commission or Consulate.

For information on how the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office deals with a deceased person’s passport, see passport recovered overseas.

Death of a Windrush passport holder

If the deceased person was a Windrush customer, we may also find out about their death when we check UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) systems.

UKVI will only have the details of the death if it has been reported to them.

You must request the death certificate to withdraw a live application.

Deceased person’s passport: live application in progress

This section tells His Majesty’s Passport Office staff how we deal with live applications when the intended passport holder dies during the application process.

An informant may contact us by phone, or by sending us a death certificate and supporting letter, to tell us a customer has died during the passport application process.

If the informant has contacted us by phone, the contact centre will:

• tell them what evidence they need to send us
• ask them for the death certificate number over the phone
• add a note to the application
• transfer the call to Customer Service Management team (if the death occurred in England and Wales)

If you, the examiner, are informed the customer is deceased, (for example, by phone or through a letter sent to a Document Handling Unit (DHU)), you must:

1. Tell the informant dealing with the deceased person’s estate what evidence they need to send us. If the informant does not have an email address and must be contacted by post, the Exceptions Handling team will deal with the application.
2. Put the deceased person’s application on hold.

When you have received the original death certificate, or an official copy you must:

1. Send an email to the Customer Service Management team (CSMT) referrals inbox:

• with the subject ‘Withdraw application because applicant deceased’
• asking for a Withdraw application because applicant deceased task to be created on the application

2. Deal with the application in line with this guidance, when CSMT have added the task.

Customer is deceased: contacting the informant

When you tell an informant what evidence they need to send us, you must tell them by phone first and then send them Comms builder letter 449.

If the informant does not have an email address, you must refer to Contact third party by post, to send a letter to the informant’s postal address.

Customer is deceased: evidence needed to withdraw the live application

Before you, the examiner, withdraw a live application and refund the fee for a customer who has died, you must have:

• a signed and dated letter asking us to withdraw the application because the intended passport holder has died
• the informant’s:
  • forename and surname
  • address
  • telephone number
  • email address
• evidence:
  • they are the next of kin (for example partner, child, or parent); or
  • they are the executor of the will (the person legally appointed to manage the estate); or,
  • they have been appointed as administrator of the estate (if there is no will)
• the original death certificate or an official copy if the death was registered outside England or Wales; or,
• the D1 form uploaded on Digital Application Processing (DAP) if the death was registered in England and Wales

Examples of the evidence the informant can send are:

• birth or adoption certificates
• marriage or civil partnership certificates
• joint utility bills or bank statements
• statutory declarations (naming them and giving them permission to deal with the deceased person’s estate)
• the will or power of attorney

You must ask the informant dealing with the deceased person’s estate, to get an official copy of the customers death certificate, if they cannot provide the original.

Withdrawing a live application when the customer is deceased

This section tells His Majesty’s Passport Office examination staff how to withdraw a live application when the customer dies during the application process.

If you have received the deceased person’s death certificate and evidence confirming who is responsible for their estate, and the application is still live, you must:

1. Check the evidence provided confirms the death and that the informant is the person responsible for the estate.

2. Check the death certificate (if applicable):

• details match exactly to the intended passport holder

• is an original, or an official copy from the issuing authority (you must check Knowledge Base, if you need to compare it to UK or overseas examples)

3. Follow DAP: How we communicate with third parties if you need to contact the informant.

After checking the evidence provided, refer to:

• Withdrawing the application, if you are satisfied with the evidence received
• Concerns about the death certificate or evidence received, if you think the evidence is not genuine
• Customer is not deceased if the intended passport holder is not deceased

Withdrawing the application

If you believe the evidence is genuine, you must:

1. Update ARD (Application Receive Domain) document handling instructions to:

• tell the DHU to physically cancel any British passports provided with the application in the customer’s name
• return the documents to the informant at their address

2. Add a passport note to the passport record to confirm the:

• passport has been cancelled as customer deceased
• date of customer’s death
• original death certificate (or official copy) was received and checked by (insert Document Handling Unit, examiner or Customer Service Management team)

3. Update the return address and document delivery address details in DAP, to return the customer’s supporting documents to the informant dealing with the deceased person’s estate.

4. Arrange a refund of the application fee to the person dealing with the deceased person’s estate, using the off-system manual refund process.

5. Add a case note to record:

• you have received and checked the death certificate and evidence
• you have requested the refund
• the details of the person dealing with the intended passport holder’s estate, including their full name, address, phone number and email address (if provided)
• you have added a passport note to confirm the customer is deceased

6. Complete the Withdraw application because applicant deceased DAP task, by selecting the Withdraw application option.

7. Select Save.

When you have selected the Withdraw application option, DAP will automatically:

• electronically cancel the old passport on our passport records as Holder deceased
• return all documents (including old, cancelled passports) to the informant’s address you have entered on DAP
• not send any final communications to the customer

Live application: refunding the fee

HM Passport Office can refund the fee to the intended passport holder’s next of kin or the person responsible for the estate if:

• the intended passport holder has died; and,
• the application is still in progress (not yet withdrawn or issued); and,
• they provide proof of the death and that they are the next of kin or the person responsible for the deceased person’s estate

Concerns about the death certificate or evidence received

If you have received a death certificate, or other evidence and you think the document is not genuine, you must:

1. Not complete additional checks.

2. Select the Refer for investigation option on the Withdraw application because applicant deceased task.

3. Add a case note to explain the:

• reason for referral

• concerns you have with the document or information provided

• checks you completed

4. Select Save.

The application will be referred to your operational team leader (OTL) to review. The OTL will review your referral and decide whether to:

• speak with the Quality Examination and Support team about your referral reasons; or
• refer the application for investigation if they agree with your referral; or,
• add a case note and return it to the examiner if they think the document is genuine

Customer is not deceased

You, the examiner must refer the application to Public Protection for investigation:

• when the customer or informant tells you the intended passport holder is not deceased; and,
• you have fraud concerns

To do this follow the steps in Concerns about the death certificate or evidence received to send the application to Public Protection.

No response from the informant dealing with the customer’s estate

You must allow the informant 6 weeks to respond to our phone call or letter. You must send manual reminders throughout this time.

If you have not received a response from the informant after 6 weeks, you must refer the application to the Exceptions Handling team (EHT) to continue with withdrawing the application.

EHT staff must refer to EHT: intended passport holder is deceased to withdraw the application.

Deceased person’s passport: application has been completed

This section tells His Majesty’s Passport Office staff how we deal with completed applications when the intended passport holder dies.

If we have completed the passport application (issued, withdrawn, or failed) our service is complete and must be paid for. After we issue a passport, we will not provide a refund. The informant reporting the death must check with the deceased person’s life or travel insurance to ask if they will cover this cost.

If documents (for example the original death certificate) are received in a Document Handling Unit (DHU) after an application has been completed, DHUs will:

• deal with the document; and,
• create a task in line with the Document Handling Unit: orphan documents guidance for a Digital Application Processing user to deal with

Any documents will be sent to Customer Service Management team (CSMT) who will make sure any newly issued passport is cancelled.

CSMT: dealing with death notification forms (D1)

This section tells HM Passport Office staff working in the Customer Service Management team (CSMT) how to deal with passports, death certificates and death notifications, that an informant has sent to HM Passport Office.

If an informant has not used the Tell Us Once service to tell us a customer has died, they must complete a death notification (D1) form. Depending on where the death was registered, the D1 form will tell the informant to send the form to CSMT by:

• email; or,
• post with the original death certificate

CSMT: D1 form and death certificate

How you, the CSMT, deal with D1 forms and death certificates will depend on if:

• there is a live or completed application; and,
• you can check Life Events Notification; or,
• you need the original death certificate

When you receive a D1 form or, a D1 form and an original death certificate, to report the death of a customer, you must check Digital Application Processing (DAP) for any live applications. This is to make sure we do not issue a passport in error.

CSMT deceased person’s passport: live application

If you find a live application and the information on the D1 form (and death certificate if applicable) matches the applicant details exactly, you must:

• scan the original death certificate and the D1 form to the application
• add a case note to tell the examiner:
  • you have received a D1 form (and death certificate if applicable) for the intended passport holder
  • you added a scan of the D1 form (and death certificate if applicable); and,
  • you have confirmed the death details match on LEV and the application can be withdrawn (if the death occurred in England and Wales)
• add the Withdraw application because applicant is deceased task

This will allow the examiner to complete the withdraw application from the national queue.

CSMT deceased person’s passport: no live application

If you do not find a live application, you must:

1. Check if you have received the death certificate (if applicable), and refer to:

• CSMT: death certificate not received (if you did not receive the death certificate)
• Concerns about the death certificate or evidence received (if you have any concerns about the death certificate or evidence you received)

2. Check you have received the D1 form and:

• it has been completed in full; and,
• the details match the death certificate

3. Send a letter to the informant’s email or postal address requesting a new D1 form if the:

• informant did not send a D1 form
• details do not match the death certificate; or,
• form is not completed in full

4. Compare the information on the D1 form and death certificate (if applicable) to passport records and find an exact match.

5. Check if the D1 form is declaring the passport lost or stolen, if it is you must follow D1 form: passport is declared lost or stolen (to ask the Lost, Stolen and Recovered (LSR) team to cancel the passport.

6. Cancel the passport if the details on the death certificate (if applicable) and D1 form match the passport record, and the passport has not been declared lost or stolen, by:

• cancelling the passport to show ‘holder deceased’; and,
• securely destroying the passport if the informant has included it and not asked us to return it; or,
• physically cancelling the passport if the informant has included it and asked us to return it

7. Add a passport note when you or the LSR team have cancelled the passport, which records:

• the date of death
• what documents you received from the informant (for example, passport, death certificate, D1 form)
• if we destroyed the passport, returned it to the informant or the D1 confirms the informant has physically cancelled it
• if you confirmed the death using Life Events Verification (LEV)

After you or the LSR team cancel the passport, you must:

1. Create an acknowledgement letter addressed to the informant.

2. Return the customers documents (for example, the customer’s cancelled passport and death certificate), with the acknowledgement letter, by:

• Royal Mail if the informant is in the UK
• secure delivery if the informant is overseas

3. Archive the D1 form for 12 months:

• digitally on Genesys if it was received by email; or,
• in secure storage if it was received in the post

D1 form: passport is declared lost or stolen

If the D1 form confirms the passport is lost or stolen, you must:

1. Scan the D1 form and death certificate to Genesys.

2. Add a passport note to the passport record to show:

• the date of death; and,
• the informant confirmed the passport is lost or stolen; and,
• what documents you received from the informant (for example, original death certificate, D1 form); or,
• if you confirmed the death using LEV

3. Send scanned copies of the D1 form and death certificate by email to the Lost Stolen and Recovered (LSR) team, confirming the passport holder’s name, date of birth and passport number.

4. Wait until the LSR team have confirmed they have cancelled the passport.

5. Refer to CSMT deceased person’s passport: no live application, when the LSR team have confirmed they have cancelled the passport.

The LSR team can only accept the email from CSMT as confirmation the passport is lost or stolen if the scans are attached.

CSMT: death certificate not received

You may be able to process the request without a physical death certificate depending on where the death was registered. To do this you must have a fully completed D1 form, from the informant.

Life Events Verification (LEV) only contains details of births and deaths registered in England and Wales. We cannot electronically confirm deaths that occur outside England and Wales. This is because we do not have permission to access the registration systems for those countries.

You must always request the D1 form and death certificate and follow CSMT: death certificate or D1 form received if the death takes place in:

• Scotland or Northern Ireland
• the Crown Dependencies of Isle of Man, Bailiwicks of Jersey or Guernsey
• any country outside the UK

Checking LEV

There is no requirement to check Life Events Verification (LEV) if the original death certificate (or an official copy) has been sent to us. Where the certificate has not been sent, you can check LEV for the details if the:

• D1 form is fully completed and includes the death certificate number; and,
• death was registered in England or Wales

You must:

1. Search HM Passport Office systems for the deceased person’s passport.

2. Check LEV to confirm the death certificate reference number and customer details. If they:

• do not match, you must request the death certificate and then follow CSMT: death certificate and D1 form received
• match the passport record and D1 form, cancel the passport in line with CSMT deceased person’s passport: no live application