You can apply for a passport with no permanent address. The State Department needs a working mailing address on Form DS-11 or DS-82 so it can send you the passport and any correspondence, but nothing on the application requires that address to be a home you own or rent. A friend’s house, a shelter, a P.O. Box, or the post office’s General Delivery service can all do the job. What matters is that you can reliably receive mail there for the several weeks it takes to process and deliver your passport.
How the Address Fields on the Form Actually Work
The application has two address sections, and understanding the difference is the whole game.
The first is your mailing address. This is where the State Department will send your finished passport. It accepts a street address, a P.O. Box, or a rural delivery route. If mail for you goes to someone else’s home, write that person’s name on the “In Care Of” line inside the mailing address block. The State Department specifically recommends this when you’re receiving mail somewhere you don’t live.1U.S. Department of State. Checking Your Passport Application Status Make sure the name on your application matches the name that person’s carrier expects at that address, or the envelope can bounce.
The second is your permanent address. The form only asks you to fill this in if your permanent residence is different from the mailing address you listed, or if your mailing address is a P.O. Box. This field does not accept a P.O. Box. If you truly have no permanent residence and your mailing address is a friend’s home, you can leave the permanent address blank.
Address Options When You Don’t Have a Home
Several substitutes work. Each carries a different risk.
- A friend or family member’s address. The simplest option. Put their street address in the mailing section and their name on the “In Care Of” line. Tell them official government mail in your name is coming so they don’t set it aside or return it.
- A P.O. Box. Fine as a mailing address, but the form will then require you to also fill in a physical permanent address. A P.O. Box alone won’t satisfy both fields. Pairing the box with a friend’s street address in the permanent field solves this.
- USPS General Delivery. A free service at participating post offices that holds mail for you at the counter. General Delivery mail is held for up to 30 days, though at offices with letter-carrier service the default is only 10 days unless the sender asks for longer. Because passport processing alone can run six weeks, General Delivery is risky unless you talk to the local postmaster in advance about extending the hold.2USPS. What is General Delivery?
- A homeless shelter or social service organization. Many shelters accept mail for clients. Get a letter from the shelter administrator on official letterhead confirming you receive services and mail there. That letter can also help if the acceptance agent questions your address.
- Your employer’s business address, if your employer allows personal mail at work. List the business address and put the employer’s name on the “In Care Of” line.
Proving Who You Are Without a Current Address ID
Not having a permanent home usually means not having a driver’s license that matches an address you can list, and that can complicate identity checks at the acceptance facility. The good news: none of the accepted primary IDs need to show a matching address. A valid driver’s license, a previous U.S. passport, a military ID, or a federal, state, or municipal government employee badge will each satisfy the primary ID requirement on its own.
If you don’t have any primary photo ID, you can bring at least two secondary forms instead. Acceptable items include an expired driver’s license, a Social Security card, a voter registration card, an employee or student ID, or a Medicare card.3U.S. Department of State. Get Photo ID for a U.S. Passport None of these require a current home address, which is what makes them workable when your housing is unstable.
If you can’t put two secondary IDs together either, there’s a fallback. Bring an identifying witness to the acceptance facility. The witness fills out Form DS-71 and swears under oath that they know you and believe you’re a U.S. citizen. They must present their own valid photo ID and answer questions about how long they’ve known you.4Reginfo.gov. Affidavit of Identifying Witness You still need to bring some identification of your own, even if it’s expired or has no photo. The witness supplements your documents, not replaces them.
The Social Security Number You Have to Provide
Every passport applicant has to enter a Social Security number on the application. Federal law imposes a $500 penalty for failing to include one, unless you can show reasonable cause.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6039E – Information Concerning Resident Status The IRS enforces the penalty, so it can arrive later on a tax notice rather than at the counter.
If you’ve never been issued a Social Security number, the State Department allows you to enter all zeros in that field.6SSA – POMS. Social Security Number (SSNs) for Passport Applications The $500 penalty doesn’t hit you in that case because you can’t hand over a number that was never assigned. If you were given one and just don’t remember it, the Social Security Administration can help you recover it before you apply.
Making Sure the Passport Actually Reaches You
Once you’ve picked an address, the next question is whether you’ll be there when the envelope arrives. Routine processing takes four to six weeks, and the State Department estimates roughly two additional weeks of mail transit each way, so the full timeline from drop-off to delivery can stretch to about ten weeks.7U.S. Department of State. Processing Times for U.S. Passports Expedited processing shortens the State Department’s portion to two to three weeks for an extra $60.8U.S. Department of State. How to Get My U.S. Passport Fast The first-time adult passport book itself is $130, plus a $35 acceptance facility fee.9U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
A passport book ships via trackable delivery. A passport card ships only by First Class Mail, with no faster option. Your citizenship evidence (like a birth certificate) comes back separately by First Class Mail and can arrive up to four weeks after the passport itself.10U.S. Department of State. Apply for Your Adult Passport For an extra $22.05 you can add one-to-three-day delivery on a passport book to a U.S. address, which is worth serious thought when your mailing situation is fragile.11U.S. Department of State. United States Passport Fees for Acceptance Facilities
Track your application at passportstatus.state.gov using your last name, date of birth, and the last four digits of your Social Security number.12U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passport Application Status Once the status shows “mailed,” tell whoever is receiving your mail to watch for it. If you’re using a friend’s address or a P.O. Box, you can also sign up for USPS Informed Delivery at that address for free; it emails you scanned images of incoming mail so you know when the envelope is close.
One more option skips the mail entirely. If you have international travel within 14 calendar days, or within 28 days if you need a foreign visa, you can book an appointment at a regional passport agency and pick up the passport in person. You’ll need proof of upcoming travel (a flight itinerary or hotel reservation) and you’ll pay the $60 expedite fee on top of standard fees.13U.S. Department of State. Apply at the New York Passport Agency The urgency requirement means it isn’t available to everyone, but when it applies, it removes the mailing risk entirely.
If Your Address Changes or the Passport Never Arrives
If your mailing address changes while the application is still processing, call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778 immediately. Phone is the only way to update the address on a pending application. You can’t change it online or at the facility where you applied.1U.S. Department of State. Checking Your Passport Application Status The earlier you call, the better the odds of catching the update before the passport is shipped to the old address.
If more than two weeks have passed since the tracker says your passport was mailed and it still hasn’t arrived, call 1-877-487-2778 (or 1-888-874-7793 TTY). You’ll be walked through Form DS-86, a signed statement that you never received the passport. You have to submit this within 120 days of the passport’s issue date. Miss that window and you start over with a new application and pay all the fees again.1U.S. Department of State. Checking Your Passport Application Status
That deadline is where an unstable address gets expensive. A passport sitting unopened at an old address for four months costs you the full application fee a second time. The best defenses are picking the most reliable receiving address you have access to, paying for faster delivery on the outbound leg, and checking the online tracker regularly so you know the moment your envelope goes out.