How Much Are Adult Passports? Fees, Extras, and Renewals

A first-time adult passport book costs $165 in government fees: a $130 application fee paid to the U.S. Department of State plus a $35 acceptance fee paid to the facility where you apply. A renewal drops to $130 because you skip the acceptance fee. Those are the baseline numbers, but a passport photo, expedited processing, and fast delivery can push what you actually spend well above them.¹

First-Time Passport Costs

If you’ve never held a U.S. passport, you apply in person on Form DS-11 and pick which document you want. The State Department’s application fees are:

Passport book: $130. Good for international travel by air, land, and sea.
Passport card: $30. Good only for land and sea travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean.
Both together: $160.

Every in-person application also carries a separate $35 acceptance fee, paid to the post office, county clerk, or other designated acceptance facility handling your paperwork. That brings the totals to $165 for a book, $65 for a card, and $195 for both.¹ The adult passport is valid for 10 years from the date it’s issued.²

Frequent travelers can request a 52-page book at no extra cost. Ask for it at the counter when you apply.

Renewal Costs

You can renew on Form DS-82 if your most recent passport was issued when you were 16 or older, is undamaged, and hasn’t been lost or stolen. The application fees are identical to a first-time application ($130 for a book, $30 for a card, $160 for both), but there’s no $35 acceptance fee because you don’t appear in person.¹

Online renewal is available if you’re at least 25, aren’t changing your name or other information, and are located in a U.S. state or territory. Your passport must be expiring within a year or expired less than five years ago. Online renewal uses routine processing only, so anyone who needs a passport within six weeks has to renew by mail with expedited service instead.³

The Extras Most People Forget

Passport Photo

The application fee doesn’t cover your photo. You have to supply a 2×2-inch color photo taken within the last six months, printed on photo paper against a white or off-white background.⁴ Pharmacies, shipping stores, and post offices typically charge somewhere between $7 and $17 for a set of prints. A smartphone photo taken at home costs nothing beyond printing, but a rejected photo is one of the more common reasons applications stall.

Expedited Processing

Routine processing runs four to six weeks. Adding $60 for expedited service brings that down to two to three weeks. Neither window includes mailing time in either direction.⁵ You can add expedited service to a first-time application or a mail-in renewal; on a renewal, write “EXPEDITE” on the envelope and include the extra $60.¹

1-3 Day Delivery

For $22.05, the State Department will ship your finished book by trackable one-to-three-day delivery to a U.S. address. The service applies to passport books only, not cards, and your supporting documents (birth certificate, old passport) may still come back separately by regular mail.¹

Urgent Travel Appointments

If you’re leaving the country within 14 days, or you have a life-or-death family emergency abroad, you can book an in-person appointment at a regional passport agency. The government doesn’t charge an extra fee for the appointment itself. You still owe the standard application fee, the $35 acceptance fee, and the $60 expedited processing fee.⁶

Private expediting companies are a separate matter. They hand-carry applications to a passport agency for you and can charge several hundred dollars on top of the government fees. Some also bill for tasks the government provides free, like completing forms and booking appointments.⁶

Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Passports

A lost passport puts you back at square one. You reapply in person on Form DS-11, which means the full $130 application fee and the $35 acceptance fee, for a minimum of $165 to replace a book.²

If you can’t submit proof of citizenship (a birth certificate, for instance) with the replacement application, a $150 file search fee applies on top. A worst-case replacement can therefore climb to $315 before any expediting or delivery charges.¹

Corrections and Name Changes

Some updates are free, and some aren’t. If the State Department printed your passport with an error, they’ll fix it at no charge on Form DS-5504 with your current passport, a new photo, and evidence of the mistake. A legal name change within one year of the passport being issued also qualifies for a free update using DS-5504. Once that one-year window closes, changing your name requires a full renewal by mail on DS-82, or a new application in person on DS-11, at the corresponding fees.⁷

How You Pay

In-person applications split payment between two payees, which catches a lot of people off guard. The application fee to the State Department goes by personal check, certified check, cashier’s check, traveler’s check, or money order; credit cards, debit cards, and cash generally aren’t accepted for mail-in applications. The $35 acceptance fee goes to the facility, and accepted payment methods vary. Some take cards, some take checks, some take cash. Call ahead so you don’t waste a trip.

Online renewals are simpler. You pay the whole application fee by credit or debit card through the State Department’s portal.¹

Common Scenarios and Totals

What you’ll actually pay for a passport book, before the photo:

First-time book, routine: $130 + $35 = $165
First-time book, expedited with 1-3 day delivery: $130 + $35 + $60 + $22.05 = $247.05
Mail renewal, routine: $130
Mail renewal, expedited with 1-3 day delivery: $130 + $60 + $22.05 = $212.05
Lost passport replacement, routine: $130 + $35 = $165
First-time card only, routine: $30 + $35 = $65

Add roughly $7 to $17 for a passport photo at a retail location and you have a realistic total. The fee schedule reflected here was last updated in September 2025.²

1
U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
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U.S. Department of State. United States Passport Fees
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U.S. Department of State. Renew Your Passport Online
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U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passport Photos
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U.S. Department of State. Processing Times for U.S. Passports
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U.S. Department of State. How to Get My U.S. Passport Fast
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U.S. Department of State. Change or Correct a Passport