How Long Is a Newborn Passport Good For? Five-Year Rule & Replacement

A passport issued to a newborn is good for five years from its issue date. That is the standard validity for every U.S. passport holder under age 16, so the question of how long a newborn passport is good for has the same answer whether the child is two weeks old or two years old when the book is printed.¹

Why the Validity Is Five Years Instead of Ten

Federal law sets the default passport validity at ten years but authorizes the Secretary of State to shorten that period.² For anyone under 16, the State Department caps validity at five years. A newborn looks nothing like a five-year-old, and a five-year-old looks nothing like a ten-year-old. Keeping the photo reasonably current is what lets a border officer match the child in front of them to the child in the book.

The five-year rule applies to both the passport book and the passport card. A child’s card carries the same five-year expiration as the book issued at the same time.³

Plan Around the Six-Month Rule, Not the Expiration Date

The date printed inside the passport is not the date you should treat as the end of its useful life. Many countries require a passport to be valid for at least six months beyond your planned entry date. A book that has not technically expired can still get you turned around at immigration.

For a five-year newborn passport, that six-month cushion effectively shortens the usable window to about four and a half years. If you have international travel coming up in year five, check the destination country’s rules before you go, and start the replacement process early if the buffer is thin.

There Is No Renewal for a Child Under 16

Parents used to renewing their own passports by mail are often surprised by this: you cannot renew a child’s passport. When it expires, you start the whole application over.¹ That means a new Form DS-11, a new in-person visit to an acceptance facility, a new photo, new fees, and both parents present again or fresh notarized consent from the absent one.

The two-parent rule is a child safety measure. It exists to keep one parent from getting a passport for a child and taking that child out of the country without the other parent knowing.⁴ It applies every time, including when you are replacing an expired book for a child you have already gotten a passport for once.

When Only One Parent Can Appear

If the second parent can’t come to the appointment, they must complete Form DS-3053 (Statement of Consent), sign it under oath before a notary or passport authorizing officer, and attach a photocopy of the front and back of the ID they showed the notary.⁵ The notarized consent is only valid for 90 days from the date the notary signs it. Get it too early and it will expire before you submit the application.

Sole Custody or Single-Parent Applicants

If you are the only parent, or you have sole legal custody, you do not need the other parent’s consent, but you do need documentation showing why. Acceptable proof includes a court order granting sole custody or specifically authorizing you to apply for the child’s passport, a certified birth certificate or adoption decree listing only one parent, a certified death certificate of the other parent, or a judicial declaration of incompetence for a parent who cannot consent.

If none of those fit and you simply cannot locate the other parent, Form DS-5525 or a written statement under penalty of perjury explaining in detail why the other parent cannot be reached can be submitted instead.⁵ Have this paperwork ready before the appointment. Showing up without it means going home and starting over.

What the Replacement Costs

Two separate fees apply, just as they did the first time. The application fee goes to the State Department; the acceptance facility fee goes to the post office, library, or clerk’s office that processes the application. For a passport book, the total is $135: a $100 application fee plus a $35 facility fee.⁶ A book and card together is $115 in application fees plus the $35 facility fee. A card alone is $15 plus $35.

Expedited processing adds $60 to whichever combination you choose.⁷ Check with your acceptance facility about payment methods in advance. Some accept only checks or money orders; others take credit cards.

How Long Replacement Takes

Routine processing runs four to six weeks. Expedited processing runs two to three weeks and costs the extra $60.⁸ Those clocks start when the State Department receives the application, not when you hand it over at the acceptance facility, so build in mail time on both ends.

You can check status online through the State Department’s passport status tool, or by email if you included an email address on the application.⁹ If travel is within 14 calendar days, you can book an appointment at a regional passport agency, which serves walk-in applicants by appointment only and is separate from routine acceptance facilities.¹⁰

Documents You’ll Need Again

Because a replacement is a fresh application, you bring the same package of originals you brought the first time. The State Department will not accept photocopies or notarized copies of citizenship evidence.

Proof of U.S. citizenship, usually the child’s original or certified birth certificate showing full name, date and place of birth, parents’ names, the registrar’s signature, and the issuing authority’s seal. A Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certificate of Citizenship also works.¹¹
Proof of parental relationship, generally the same birth certificate, though adoption decrees and custody orders are accepted.
Both parents’ photo IDs. If your ID is from a state other than the one where you’re applying, bring a second form of photo ID.⁴
The child’s Social Security number. If one has not been issued, include a signed statement under penalty of perjury that the child has never been issued a number. Skipping this can delay the application and trigger a $500 IRS penalty.¹²
Form DS-11, filled out but unsigned. The acceptance agent watches you sign it at the appointment.¹³
A recent color passport photo meeting State Department specifications.

Originals are returned by mail after processing, separately from the new passport. Given the full-application requirement and the six-month buffer many countries enforce, treat year four of a newborn passport as the point to begin planning the replacement, not year five.

1
USAGov. Get a Passport for a Minor Under 18
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 USC 217a – Validity of Passport; Limitation of Time
3
Travel.State.Gov. U.S. Passports and REAL ID
4
Travel.State.Gov. Apply for a Child’s Passport Under 16
5
U.S. Department of State. Statement of Consent: U.S. Passport Issuance to a Child
6
U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
7
U.S. Department of State. How to Get My U.S. Passport Fast
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U.S. Department of State. Processing Times for U.S. Passports
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U.S. Department of State. Checking Your Passport Application Status
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U.S. Department of State. Make an Appointment at a Passport Agency
11
U.S. Embassy & Consulates. DS-11 for Minors
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U.S. Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions About Passport Services
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U.S. Department of State. Application for a U.S. Passport (DS-11)