Yes, you get your old passport back after renewal. If you renew by mail, the Department of State returns it in a separate envelope from your new passport, with holes punched through it to show it has been canceled. If you renew online, you never send it in at all — the Department cancels it electronically and you keep the booklet the entire time. Either way, the old passport ends up back in your hands.
Getting the Old Passport Back After a Mail Renewal
When you file Form DS-82 by mail, you have to include your current or recently expired passport in the envelope. Federal regulations require you to submit your valid passport for cancellation as part of the renewal.1eCFR. 22 CFR 51.8 – Submission of Currently Valid Passport
Once your renewal is processed, two envelopes come back to you. Your new passport book arrives through a trackable delivery service. Your old passport, listed as “citizenship evidence,” arrives separately by First Class Mail, and it can show up as much as four weeks after the new one.2U.S. Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions About Passport Services Splitting the shipment is deliberate: if one envelope goes missing, the other stays secure.
So if your new passport lands first and the old one hasn’t arrived, that’s normal. Wait it out. If more than four weeks pass after the new passport shows up and the old one still hasn’t come, call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778.3U.S. Department of State. Contact U.S. Passports
Online Renewal: You Never Give It Up
Online renewal works differently. The State Department’s instruction is blunt: “Do not mail us the passport you are renewing. Keep it.”4U.S. Department of State. Renew Your Passport Online Cancellation happens electronically after you submit the application. The passport can no longer be used for international travel, but it stays with you from start to finish. There is no return shipment to wait on.
What a Canceled Passport Looks Like
A mail-renewed passport comes back with holes punched through the front cover or the data page. That physical marking makes the booklet instantly recognizable as invalid at any border. With online renewal, the cancellation is electronic and there are no holes; the passport looks physically intact, and the State Department warns not to use it for travel anyway.4U.S. Department of State. Renew Your Passport Online
Cancellation does not erase what’s inside. Entry and exit stamps stay readable, visa pages stay readable, and the booklet remains a personal record of your travel history. For some people it’s also more than a keepsake.
Valid Visas Inside the Old Passport
Canceling the passport does not cancel the visas inside it. Many countries issue multi-year visas that outlive the passport they’re placed in. When that happens, you travel with both books: the new valid passport and the old canceled one carrying the visa. The border officer at your destination checks the visa in the old booklet and stamps the new one.
The State Department confirms this works for foreign travelers entering the United States. A visitor arriving with a valid visa in an expired passport plus a new passport will have the visa checked and the new passport stamped with a “VIOPP” notation, meaning “visa in other passport.” Most countries follow a similar practice, though it’s worth checking with the specific embassy before you fly. One warning is absolute: never peel a visa out of the old passport and stick it into the new one. That voids the visa.5U.S. Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions
When the Old Passport Doesn’t Come Back
In a small number of cases, the Department of State keeps the old passport rather than returning it.
A passport obtained through fraud, illegally, or erroneously can be revoked, and so can one that has been fraudulently altered or misused.6eCFR. 22 CFR 51.62 – Revocation or Limitation of Passports The Department can also deny or limit a new passport if you can’t adequately explain what happened to a previously issued passport that was lost, stolen, altered, or mutilated.1eCFR. 22 CFR 51.8 – Submission of Currently Valid Passport
The Department can also refuse to issue a passport at all when an applicant has an outstanding federal or state felony warrant, is subject to certain court orders restricting departure from the country, owes more than a threshold amount in child support, or falls into other categories set out in federal regulations.7eCFR. 22 CFR 51.60 – Denial and Restriction of Passports None of this is common for a routine renewal, but it explains why a small number of applicants find their old passport withheld.
One distinction matters here. Accidental wear and tear, like a passport that went through the washing machine or was chewed by a dog, counts as damage. Intentional physical alteration by the holder counts as mutilation, and the Department treats mutilation much more seriously.