How to Renew Your U.S. Passport

For those of you who have traveled internationally, you know that a passport is a must if you hope to cross any borders in your travels. After you have received your first passport, you will still have to renew your passport routinely to keep it valid. This post covers the when, what, why, and how to renew your United States Passport.

When Do Passports Expire?

The answer is different depending on your age and the passport that you have:

• An adult passport is typically valid for 10 years from the date of issue.
• A child’s passport (defined as anyone 15 or younger) is valid for 5 years from the date of issue.
• The United States issues limited passports in certain circumstances (generally for emergency travel). These will have much shorter expiration timelines, but their issuance is quite rare.

When Should You Renew Your Passport?

If you travel with any frequency internationally, you will not want to let your passport expire. You will want to consider your travel plans as the expiration date of your passport approaches.

Be aware that even if your passport is not expired, it can be deemed invalid for entry into many countries around the world. Almost 100 countries across the globe require that the passport be valid for 6 months beyond your dates of travel. Many more countries require that a passport be valid for 3 months beyond the dates of travel.

For this reason, it is advised that you renew your passport approximately nine months prior to your passport’s expiration date. You many need to renew a little before or after this date to make sure you plan around any scheduled international travel.

How Long Does It Take to Renew a Passport?

The standard renewal time for a passport is 10 – 12 weeks per the United States Department of State (the issuer of U.S. passports). This is up to three months that you will be without a passport. Therefore, you need to plan ahead for when you will not be traveling.

If this standard timeline is too long for your needs, the U.S. State Department offers two expedited options.

Expedited processing by mail is available to anyone for an additional fee of $60. This option advertises a processing time of 4 – 6 weeks.

The second expedited processing option reduces the processing time down to three business days. This emergency expedited processing option requires you to prove that you have international travel planned within 72 hours. You will also need to travel to a passport agency or center for an in-person appointment. In-person appointments can be hard to get so I would not count on this service unless you absolutely need it.

How Is the Renewal Process Started?

Once you have decided that it is time to renew your passport, the process is started in different ways depending on if you are emergency expediting your passport, if you can apply by mail, or if you must apply in person. Each of those options is covered in more detail below:

Emergency Expedited Service

If you need emergency expedited service, you must contact the National Passport Information Center to make an appointment at a Regional Passport Agency.

The National Passport Information Center’s automated appointment system is available by phone at 1-877-487-2778 or online at https://passportappointment.travel.state.gov/. Bring all the required items mentioned below to the appointment as if you were renewing in an acceptance center. Upon arrival for your appointment, you will need to pay your fee for expedited service and provide proof of immediate travel.

Expedited or Standard Service by Mail

In order to renew your passport by mail (with either expedited or standard service) you will need to be able to answer “Yes” to the following questions:

• Do you have your most recent United States Passport book and/or card that you will mail in with the application?
• Were you at least 16 years old when you were issued your current United States Passport book and/or card?
• Has it been less than 15 years since your last United States Passport book and/or card was issued?
• Is your current United States Passport book and/or card free of mutilation or damage and not lost and/or stolen?
• Does your current United States Passport book and/or card have 10-years validity between the issue date and the expiration date?
• Are you using the same name as shown or your most recent United States Passport book and/or card OR do you have a marriage license or court order that you can submit to confirm you name change?

If you answered “yes” to all the above questions, congratulations. You can submit your passport renewal by mail. If you answered “no” to any of the above questions you will have to submit your application in person. Skip to the “Apply for Renewal In-Person” section below for instructions.

Renewal by Mail

Complete Paperwork

The easiest way to start this process is to navigate to the following link to fill out the form: https://pptform.state.gov/. Even though you are filling out the information online, you will be required to print the final form it provides.

If you prefer to fill out the form manually, you will use Form DS-82. That form can be downloaded from this link: https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds82.pdf

After you have completed, printed, and signed the form, you will need to gather up the other information needed for submission. You will need the following:

• Your most recent U.S. Passport book and/or card
  • You will get this back after renewal, but it will be hole-punched and no longer active.
• One photo which meets all the passport photo requirements stapled to the application
  • Staple the photo to the application using 4 vertical staples as close to the outer edges of the photo as possible
• Certified copy of a legal name change document (only if the name on this application is different than your most recent application)
  • Marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court-ordered name change, etc…
  • This will be returned to you in a separate mailing than your passport
• Payment
  • Payment for passport renewal is $110 for a passport book and $30 for a passport card.
  • If you are requesting expedited service, you will be charged an additional $60. Reference the table below for your requested service speed and product to identify the passport fee required.
  • Passport renewals must be paid for with a check or money order. They will not accept cash.
  • The payment must be payable to “U.S. Department of State”.
  • The full name and date of birth of the applicant must be printed on the front of the check or money order.

Mail Your Renewal

After getting your form, passport, photos, payments, and documentation together, you will mail all this to the National Passport Processing Center. You must use the United States Postal Service to mail this. UPS, FedEx, or any other courier except the USPS are not allowed.

I recommed using USPS Priority Mail because it is a trackable service. The last thing you want to happen is for the USPS to lose your application and old passport without any record of it being lost.

Where you send your application is determined by where you live and the service speed requested.

If you are paying for expedited service (no matter where you live), write “EXPEDITE” on the front of the envelope and send your renewal application to:

                National Passport Processing Center
                Post Office Box 90955
                Philadelphia, PA 19190-0955

If you are getting standard speed service and live in California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, or Texas, send your renewal application to

                National Passport Processing Center
                Post Office Box 640155
                Irving, TX 75064-0155

If you are getting standard speed service and live anywhere other than California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, or Texas, send your renewal application to

                National Passport Processing Center
                Post Office Box 90955
                Philadelphia, PA 19190-0955

Apply for Renewal in Person

Required Paperwork

If you must apply for renewal in person, you will need to complete Form DS-11. This form can be filled out online then printed at the following website: https://pptform.state.gov/.

If you prefer to fill out the form manualy, you will use Form DS-11. That form can be downloaded from this link: https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds11.pdf

After you have completed and printed the form, you will need to gather up the other information needed for submission. The following is required:

• Proof of United States Citizenship
  • This can be a previous U.S. Passport, U.S. Birth Certificate, Certificate of Naturalization, or Certificate of Citizenship.
• Photocopy of your proof of United States Citizenship
  • This photocopy will be submitted with your application and kept by the passport processing center.
• Current Identification
  • The following are acceptable forms of identification:
    • Valid U.S. Passport Book or Passport Card
    • In-state valid driver’s ID with photo
    • Certificate of Naturalization
    • Certificate of Citizenship
    • Government employee ID
    • U.S. military or military dependent ID
    • Current foreign passport
    • Trusted traveler IDs (Global Entry, SENTRI, NEXUS, etc…)
    • Enhanced tribal card and Native American photo ID
• Photocopy of your current identification
  • This photocopy will be submitted with your application and kept by the passport processing center.
• One photo which meets all the photo requirements stapled to the application
  • Staple the photo to the application using 4 vertical staples as close to the outer edges of the photo as possible
• Payment
  • Payment for passport renewal is $110 for a passport book and $30 for a passport card for adults. For children, the fee is $80 for a passport book and $15 for a passport card.
  • If you are requesting expedited service, you will be charged an additional $60. Reference the table below for your requested service speed and product to identify the passport fee required.
  • The acceptance fee for in-person acceptance of the application is $35. This must be paid separately to the acceptance office from your passport fee.
  • Passport Renewals must be paid for with a check or money order. They cannot accept cash.
  • The payment must be payable to “U.S. Department of State”.
  • The full name and date of birth of the applicant must be printed on the front of the check or money order.
  • Fees vary between adults and children so reference the correct chart below

Adults

Children

Submiting Your Application In Person

After getting your form, photos, payments, and documentation together, you will need to go to a passport acceptance facility to submit your application. Visit this website to find your closest passport acceptance facilities: https://iafdb.travel.state.gov/

It is recommended that you contact the passport acceptance facility of your preference to inquire about the need for appointments and operating hours. Each passport acceptance facility sets its own rules on when they accept applications.

When you are able to go to your passport acceptance facility, take all necessary documentation and submit the paperwork.

Wait for Your Renewed Passport

Now you are all done with the submission, and you are just waiting for your passport to be issued and mailed to you. The U.S. Department of State states that it can take up to four weeks for them to begin to process your passport application. If it approaches the full length of time expected, and you have not had any communication from the passport office, you can check the status of your passport application here: https://passportstatus.state.gov/. In my most recent personal experience, it took about five weeks for the Department of State to acknowledge receipt of my request to renew my passport.

Best of luck getting everything processed in a timely manner. Hope to see you on the international road soon with your newly issued passport to the world.