How Much Does a Passport Cost at the Post Office?

A first-time adult passport book costs $165 at the Post Office: a $130 application fee payable to the U.S. Department of State plus a $35 execution fee paid to the Post Office for handling your paperwork.¹ Add $15 if you need the Post Office to take your photo.² Your final total shifts based on whether you want a book, a card, or both, whether the applicant is an adult or a child, and whether you pay to speed things up.

The Two Fees on Every Post Office Application

Every first-time application filed at a Post Office uses Form DS-11 and involves two separate charges. One is the application fee that goes to the State Department. The other is a flat $35 execution fee that goes to the Post Office for reviewing your documents and administering the oath.¹ The $35 is the same no matter what you’re ordering. The application fee is the piece that changes.

Adult Fees (Age 16 and Older)

Passport book: $130 application fee + $35 execution fee = $165 total. Valid 10 years for air, land, and sea travel.¹
Passport card: $30 + $35 = $65 total. Valid only for land and sea travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean.¹
Book and card together: $160 + $35 = $195 total.¹

Child Fees (Under 16)

Passport book: $100 + $35 = $135 total. Valid 5 years.¹
Passport card: $15 + $35 = $50 total.¹
Book and card together: $115 + $35 = $150 total.¹

A child’s book costs less up front but expires in half the time. An adult book runs $16.50 per year of use; a child’s book runs $27 per year.³

Optional Add-Ons That Raise Your Total

Several extra charges can push your bill above the base figures.

Passport photo at the Post Office: $15. Most locations that accept passport applications can take the photo on-site, but you can skip this by bringing a compliant 2×2-inch photo with a white or off-white background.²
Expedited processing: $60. Cuts State Department handling from the routine 4 to 6 weeks down to 2 to 3 weeks. This gets added to your application fee payment.¹
1-to-3-day delivery of your finished passport book: $22.05. This is faster shipping only, not faster processing, and it applies to the book alone. Passport cards always ship by First Class Mail regardless of what you pay.¹
File search: $150. Applies only if you previously held a U.S. passport issued before 1994 and can’t submit it with your application.¹

An adult who wants a book as fast as possible, paying for expedited processing and 1-to-3-day return delivery, would pay $130 + $35 + $60 + $22.05 = $247.05, plus $15 if the Post Office takes the photo. That’s the realistic ceiling for a routine application.

How You Pay at the Counter

You make two separate payments at your appointment, and the rules aren’t the same for both.

The application fee to the State Department must be paid by check or money order made payable to “U.S. Department of State.” Personal checks, certified checks, cashier’s checks, traveler’s checks, and money orders all work.¹ Cash and credit cards are not accepted for this payment. That surprises a lot of applicants.

The $35 execution fee goes to the Post Office as a separate transaction. Accepted payment methods for that fee vary by location, so call ahead if you’re unsure what your Post Office will take.¹

Without a checking account, the simplest option is to buy a postal money order at the same Post Office before your appointment. Money orders up to $500 cost $2.55, and those from $500.01 to $1,000 cost $3.60.⁴ Bring cash or a debit card for the purchase; credit cards aren’t accepted for money orders either.

How to Skip the $35 Execution Fee

If you already have a passport, you may not need to visit a Post Office at all. Renewing by mail with Form DS-82 removes the $35 execution fee, because no acceptance agent is involved.⁵ The application fee to the State Department is unchanged.

You qualify to renew by mail only if all of these are true:

You can submit your most recent U.S. passport with the application.
You were at least 16 when that passport was issued.
It was issued less than 15 years ago.
It hasn’t been mutilated, damaged, lost, or stolen.
Your name is the same, or you have a certified marriage certificate or court order documenting the change.⁵

Miss any of those and you’re back to Form DS-11 in person, with the $35 execution fee on top. Damaged and lost passports are the most common reason people who expected to renew by mail end up at the counter instead.

Applying for a Child Changes the Math

Beyond the lower application fees for children under 16, one procedural rule affects whether you can complete the transaction at all: both parents or legal guardians must appear at the Post Office with the child.⁶ Show up with one parent and no consent paperwork, and the appointment ends without a passport being ordered.

When one parent can’t attend, that parent must sign a notarized Statement of Consent (Form DS-3053) and include a photocopy of the ID shown to the notary. The notarized form has to be submitted within three months of signing.⁶ If the other parent can’t be located, Form DS-5525 (Statement of Special Family Circumstances) takes its place, and the State Department may ask for additional documents such as a custody order.

Applicants aged 16 and 17 pay the adult fees ($130 for a book) and get a 10-year passport. They don’t need both parents present, though a parent must either attend or provide a signed statement acknowledging the application.³

Debts That Can Waste Your Payment

Two categories of federal debt can stop your passport from being issued no matter what you pay. If the IRS certifies that you owe seriously delinquent tax debt, the State Department will not issue you a passport and can revoke one you already hold.⁷ Past-due child support triggers a similar block: once arrears exceed $2,500, the name is automatically referred to the State Department for denial.⁸ If either applies, clear the debt before spending money on an application that won’t produce a passport.

1
U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
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USPS. Passports
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U.S. Department of State. After You Get Your New Passport
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USPS. Money Orders
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U.S. Department of State. Renew Your Passport by Mail
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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. Passports and Unpaid Federal Taxes
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Administration for Children and Families. How Does the Passport Denial Program Work