How Much Do Passports Cost? Books, Cards, and Renewals

A first-time adult U.S. passport book costs $165, which is a $130 application fee to the State Department plus a $35 acceptance fee at the location where you apply. Renewing by mail is cheaper at $130 flat. A passport card is $65 first-time or $30 to renew. Children pay less on the application fee but more often, since kids’ passports are only good for five years. Everything else you might pay for — expedited processing, faster delivery, replacing a lost book — stacks on top of those base numbers. Here is how much a passport costs across every common situation.¹

Adult Passport Book

If you are 16 or older and applying for the first time, you use Form DS-11 and pay two separate fees. The $130 application fee goes to the U.S. Department of State. The $35 acceptance fee goes to the facility where you submit the paperwork in person, usually a post office, library, or clerk’s office. Total: $165.¹

Renewing an existing adult passport by mail uses Form DS-82 and costs $130. There is no facility fee because you are mailing the application directly to the State Department.² If an acceptance facility tries to charge you $35 for a mail renewal, something is wrong.

Adult books are valid for 10 years.³

Passport Card

The passport card is a wallet-sized ID good for land and sea crossings to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and parts of the Caribbean. It does not work for international air travel.⁴

A first-time adult card is $30 plus the $35 acceptance fee, for $65 total. Renewing an existing card by mail is $30 with no facility fee. If you already have a valid book and qualify to use DS-82, you can add a card as a “renewal” for $30 even if this is your first card.⁴

Passports for Children Under 16

Children always apply in person on Form DS-11, which means the $35 acceptance fee applies every time, including at renewal.

Book only: $100 application fee + $35 facility fee = $135
Card only: $15 application fee + $35 facility fee = $50
Book and card together: $115 application fee + $35 facility fee = $150⁵

Kids’ passports are only valid for five years, not ten.³ Plan on paying twice as often as you do for your own.

Book and Card Together Saves Money

Applying for both documents in the same trip costs less than doing them one at a time. A first-time adult pays $160 in application fees plus the single $35 facility fee, for $195 total. That is $35 less than buying each separately. An adult renewing both by mail pays $160 flat.¹

Expedited Processing and Faster Delivery

Routine processing runs about four to six weeks, plus mail time on either end.⁶ Two paid options can speed things up, and you can stack them:

Expedited processing costs $60 on top of the application fee and cuts processing to roughly two to three weeks. It works with any passport type.¹
1-3 day delivery costs $22.05 and speeds up shipment of the finished book to you. It applies only to books, not cards.¹

An adult rushing a first-time book with both add-ons pays $130 + $35 + $60 + $22.05, which comes to $247.05. Neither timeline includes days in the mail.

Online Renewal

The State Department accepts online renewals, paid by credit or debit card. The fee is the same as by mail: $130 for a book, $30 for a card. Eligibility is narrow. You must be 25 or older, hold a 10-year passport that is expiring within a year or expired less than five years ago, have the passport in hand and undamaged, not be changing your name or personal information, be located in a U.S. state or territory when you submit, and not need the passport for at least six weeks. Expedited service is not available online.⁷

Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Passports

If your passport is lost, stolen, or damaged, you cannot renew by mail. You apply in person on Form DS-11 at first-time prices: $130 plus $35 for a book, or $30 plus $35 for a card.⁸

One narrow exception: if a federally declared natural disaster destroyed the passport, the application fee may be waived. The $35 facility fee still applies.¹

Name Changes and Printing Errors

If the State Department printed something wrong, the correction is free. Send Form DS-5504 with the passport and proof of the error.⁹

A legal name change within one year of your passport’s issue date is also free on Form DS-5504. Send in the current passport, a certified name change document, and a new photo. The only charge would be $60 if you want expedited processing.

After that one-year window, a name change is priced like any other renewal or application. You pay $130 if you qualify for DS-82, or $130 plus $35 if you have to apply in person with DS-11.⁹

Costs People Forget

Passport Photos

Photos are not included in any fee. You get them yourself before applying. Acceptance facilities, pharmacies, and shipping stores generally charge around $10 to $20. Some digital services charge less. The photos must meet the State Department’s size and format specifications, or the application can be delayed.

File Search Fee

If you cannot produce proof of U.S. citizenship and need the department to locate an old record, a $150 file search fee applies. It hits automatically for passports or consular reports of birth abroad issued before 1994, because those records require a manual paper search. Records from 1994 forward live in an electronic database, so the fee is not charged upfront, though it can be added later if the electronic search comes up empty.¹⁰

Large Book

Standard books have 28 pages. Frequent travelers can request a 52-page “large book” on the application form at no extra cost. Pages cannot be added to an existing passport; if yours fills up, you renew and pay the full renewal fee.³

How To Pay

When you apply in person, payment splits in two. The application fee to the State Department has to be a check or money order made out to “U.S. Department of State,” with the applicant’s full name and date of birth on the memo line.¹

The $35 facility fee goes to the acceptance location and is a separate transaction. What they accept varies. Some take cash, checks, money orders, and cards; others are more limited. Ask before you show up.

Regional passport agencies work differently. They accept credit cards, debit cards, and contactless payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay only. No cash, no checks, no money orders. Mail renewals take a single check or money order for the whole amount. Online renewals take credit and debit cards.⁷

1
U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
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U.S. Department of State. Renew Your Passport by Mail
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U.S. Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions About Passport Services
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U.S. Department of State. Get a Passport Card
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U.S. Department of State. Apply for a Child’s Passport Under 16
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U.S. Department of State. Processing Times for U.S. Passports
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U.S. Department of State. Renew Your Passport Online
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U.S. Department of State. Report Your Passport Lost or Stolen
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Travel.State.Gov. Change or Correct a Passport
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U.S. Department of State. Get Citizenship Evidence for a U.S. Passport