UK passports will change design this year – but the new blue cover cannot be guaranteed in 2019.
Post-Brexit passports issued after 30 March will no longer say the words “European Union” on the front.
The design will eventually change from burgundy to blue but this has been revealed to be a later stage of the process. HM Passport Office has updated the information on its website about the document changes.
The new burgundy passports were introduced from 30 March, the day after the UK was supposed to leave the EU.
The Home Office said some people may still receive the old version until stocks run out.
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.
Dark blue passports resembling the pre-EU British design are due to be issued from the end of the year.