What was a British Visitor's Passport?
The British Visitor’s Passport (BVP) was a simplified version of the standard passport and was introduced in March 1961. It could be used by any British citizen, British Dependent Territories citizen or British Overseas citizen who had been resident in the UK for more than eight years. It could be obtained from any post office, as long as the applicant could provide a passport photograph and a birth certificate or valid ID. It could be used for holidays or private visits of no more than three months’ duration to specified European countries – and Bermuda! The visitor’s passport was valid only for a year. However, if you booked a last-minute break and then discovered that your BVP had expired, there was no need to panic. You had only to pop to your local post office and obtain another on the spot. No messing around with check-and-send or tracking numbers. Instead...
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