How to Fill Out and Submit Form DS-11: Documents, Fees, and Photos

To fill out Form DS-11, complete every field of the application in black ink, leave the signature line blank, and bring the form in person to a passport acceptance facility along with proof of U.S. citizenship, a photo ID with a photocopy, a 2-by-2-inch passport photo, and two separate fee payments. DS-11 is the form used when you cannot renew by mail, which covers first-time applicants, all children under 16, anyone whose most recent passport was lost, stolen, damaged, issued before age 16, or issued more than 15 years ago. If none of those apply to you, you should be using Form DS-82 instead, not DS-11.¹

Filling Out the Form

You can complete DS-11 two ways. Fill it out online using the State Department’s form filler at pptform.state.gov and print the finished PDF, or pick up a blank copy at your acceptance facility and write it out by hand. Either way, use black ink and print clearly.

Do not sign the form. The acceptance agent has to watch you sign it in person and administer an oath. If you sign it early, you will have to start over with a fresh form.

A few fields cause more trouble than the rest:

Social Security number. The form requires it. Federal law imposes a $500 penalty for providing incomplete or incorrect taxpayer information on a passport application, though the IRS sends a written notice and a chance to correct the error before assessing the penalty. If you have never been issued an SSN, enter zeros in that field.²
Document choice. You need to select a passport book, a passport card, or both. The book is the standard travel document accepted worldwide. The card is a wallet-sized alternative valid only for land and sea travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean, and cannot be used for international air travel.³
Sex marker. As of March 2026, the State Department issues passports only with an M or F marker matching the applicant’s biological sex at birth. The X marker is no longer issued.⁴

Documents to Bring With the Form

Proof of U.S. Citizenship

The strongest evidence is a certified U.S. birth certificate issued by the city, county, or state where you were born. It has to be a long-form certificate that lists your parents’ full names and carries a registrar’s raised, embossed, or multicolored seal. A hospital souvenir birth record or a short-form certificate without parental information will not be accepted.⁵

Born abroad to U.S. citizen parents? A Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) or a Certificate of Citizenship works as primary evidence. Naturalized citizens should bring their Certificate of Naturalization.

If no state has your birth on file, request a Letter of No Record from the state vital records office and supplement it with early public documents from the first five years of your life, such as a baptismal certificate, early school records, a hospital birth record, or a census record. These secondary documents must show your full name, date of birth, and place of birth.⁵

Your original citizenship document goes with your application. The State Department returns it separately from your new passport, usually a few weeks after the passport itself arrives.

Photo ID and a Photocopy

Bring a valid government-issued photo ID. A driver’s license is the most commonly accepted. You also need a photocopy of both the front and back of that ID, printed single-sided on standard white paper, with the expiration date clearly visible. The acceptance agent compares the photocopy against the original at your appointment.

Name Change Documentation

If your current legal name is different from the name on your citizenship evidence, bridge the gap with a certified marriage certificate or a court-ordered name change document. If you changed your name informally, without a court order or marriage, complete Form DS-60 (Affidavit Regarding a Change of Name), signed by two people who have known you by both names, and add three public records showing you have used the new name for at least five years.⁶

Passport Photo Requirements

Photo problems are the single most common reason applications get put on hold. The photo has to be a 2-by-2-inch color image taken within the last six months against a plain white or off-white background. Keep a neutral expression or a natural smile with both eyes open. Head size must measure between 1 inch and 1⅜ inches from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head.⁷

Remove all eyeglasses, sunglasses, and tinted lenses, and do not rest them on your head. The only exception is a medical inability to remove glasses, which requires a signed note from your doctor submitted with the application. Hats and head coverings are prohibited unless worn for religious or medical reasons. Selfies, filtered images, digitally altered photos, and shots with uneven lighting or shadows all get rejected.⁷

Many pharmacies and shipping stores offer passport photo services for roughly $8 to $18, and some acceptance facilities take photos on-site. The State Department’s acceptance facility locator at iafdb.travel.state.gov shows which locations offer photo services.

Submitting the Form in Person

Find a nearby acceptance facility through iafdb.travel.state.gov. Most designated locations are post offices, clerks of court, and some public libraries, but not every branch accepts passport applications, so you need one that has been specifically designated.⁸ Many facilities require an appointment, especially from late winter through summer, so call ahead or book online.

At the appointment, the acceptance agent verifies your identity, administers an oath, and watches you sign the form. Your signature confirms under penalty of perjury that everything on the application is true. The agent then assembles your application, original citizenship document, ID photocopy, photo, and fee payments into a sealed package and mails it to a passport processing center. You leave with your ID; the citizenship document goes with the package and comes back later.

Paying the Two Fees

Every DS-11 application requires two separate payments. One goes to the Department of State (the application fee). The other goes to the acceptance facility (a flat $35 execution fee).

For adult applicants 16 and older:

Passport book: $130 application fee plus $35 acceptance fee, $165 total.
Passport card: $30 application fee plus $35 acceptance fee, $65 total.
Both book and card: $160 application fee plus $35 acceptance fee, $195 total.

For minor applicants under 16, the book-and-card combination is $115 plus the $35 acceptance fee, for $150 total. Minor book-only and card-only fees are lower than the combo price; the full schedule is on the State Department’s website.³

The application fee has to be paid by personal check, certified check, cashier’s check, traveler’s check, or money order made payable to “U.S. Department of State.” Cash and credit cards are not accepted for this portion. Write your name and date of birth in the memo line. The $35 acceptance fee is paid directly to the facility, and payment methods there vary; most post offices accept credit cards, checks, and money orders, but confirm when you schedule.⁹

Extra Steps for a Child’s Application

Children under 16 cannot apply alone. Both parents or legal guardians must appear in person with the child at the acceptance facility, bringing the child’s citizenship evidence, a passport photo, and each parent’s valid photo ID.¹⁰

If one parent cannot appear, that parent completes Form DS-3053 (Statement of Consent), signed under oath before a notary public or passport acceptance agent, with a photocopy of the front and back of a government-issued photo ID attached. DS-3053 is valid for only 90 days from the date it is notarized, and the notary cannot be related to the parent signing. If the other parent cannot be located at all, submit Form DS-5525 (Statement of Exigent/Special Family Circumstances) describing your efforts to find them. Military families dealing with an unreachable deployed parent can submit DS-5525 with military orders or a statement from the commanding officer.¹⁰

You can apply without the other parent’s consent by proving sole legal authority: a certified court order granting sole legal custody, a birth certificate or adoption decree listing only one parent, the other parent’s death certificate, or a court order specifically authorizing you to obtain the child’s passport.¹⁰

Applicants who are 16 or 17 do not need both parents present, but the State Department expects “parental awareness.” In practice, at least one parent or guardian should appear at the appointment. If no parent can attend, the teenager brings a signed statement from a parent with a photocopy of that parent’s ID, or shows proof that a parent is paying the application fees.

After You Submit

Routine processing takes four to six weeks. Expedited processing takes two to three weeks. Neither figure includes mailing time, which can add up to two more weeks in each direction, and processing slows further during the peak season from late winter through summer.¹¹

Expedited service costs an additional $60 on top of the standard fees. For faster delivery of the finished passport, you can also add Priority Mail Express return shipping (currently around $22) through the acceptance facility.¹²

Once your application is in the system, check its status at passportstatus.state.gov using your last name, date of birth, and the last four digits of your Social Security number.

If you are traveling internationally within the next 14 days, or need a foreign visa within 28 days, you can request an appointment at a regional passport agency through the State Department’s Online Passport Appointment System. These appointments are free; any website charging a fee to book one is a scam. To move up an application you already submitted, call 877-487-2778 (TDD/TTY: 888-874-7793) with your nine-digit application locator number ready.¹³ A narrower “life-or-death emergency” category exists for travel within two weeks tied to serious illness or death of an immediate family member abroad, with specific documentation rules.¹⁴

What Can Still Block Your Passport

A clean DS-11 does not guarantee issuance. Three situations can hold up an otherwise complete application:

Federal tax debt. The IRS certifies individuals with seriously delinquent tax debt to the State Department, which then denies new applications and can revoke existing passports. For 2026 the threshold is $66,000 in unpaid federal tax liability (including penalties and interest), adjusted annually, and the debt must have progressed to a filed notice of federal tax lien or a levy. You are not flagged if you are on an active installment agreement, have a pending offer in compromise, have requested innocent spouse relief, or have a Collection Due Process hearing pending. Resolving the debt or entering one of these arrangements prompts the IRS to reverse the certification, typically within 30 days.¹⁵

Child support arrears. More than $2,500 in past-due child support, cumulative rather than monthly, can be certified by the state child support agency to the federal Office of Child Support Services, which then blocks passport issuance.¹⁶

Criminal justice restrictions. An active federal or state arrest warrant, pending felony charges, a pending extradition request, or a probation or supervised release condition prohibiting international travel can all prevent issuance. A prior felony conviction alone does not disqualify you if the sentence, parole, and probation are complete with no outstanding warrants or financial obligations.

1
eCFR. 22 CFR 51.21 – Execution of Passport Application
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6039E – Information Concerning Resident Status
3
U.S. Department of State. United States Passport Fees
4
U.S. Department of State. Sex Markers in Passports
5
U.S. Department of State. Citizenship Evidence
6
U.S. Department of State. Change or Correct a Passport
7
U.S. Department of State. Passport Photos
8
eCFR. 22 CFR 51.22 – Passport Agents and Passport Acceptance Agents
9
U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
10
U.S. Department of State. Statement of Consent – U.S. Passport Issuance to a Child
11
U.S. Department of State. Get Your Processing Time
12
U.S. Department of State. Get Your Passport Fast
13
U.S. Department of State. Make an Appointment at a Passport Agency
14
U.S. Department of State. Get a Passport If You Have a Life-or-Death Emergency
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7345 – Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 652 – Duties of Secretary