Your US passport number is the unique nine-character identifier printed in the top right corner of the data page of your passport book, the page that carries your photo and personal details.1U.S. Department of State. Next Generation Passport It identifies the document, not you, so it changes every time you renew or replace the passport.
Where to Find It on the Passport
On a passport book, look at the top right of the data page. The same number is repeated at the bottom of every interior page, which helps if the data page is worn or damaged.
On a passport card, the number is printed on the front of the card itself. If you hold both a book and a card, you have two different passport numbers, each tied to its own document.
One thing trips people up on visa forms like the DS-160: the passport number is not the same as the passport book number. The book number, sometimes called an inventory control number, is a separate figure used for internal tracking and may not appear in every passport. The number the form usually wants is the one in the top right corner of the data page.
Format of the Number
Books issued before 2021 carry nine digits, all numeric. Starting in 2021, the State Department began issuing next generation passport books with an alphanumeric format: one letter followed by eight numbers, still nine characters total.1U.S. Department of State. Next Generation Passport The change expanded the pool of available combinations.
Passport cards follow a different convention. The card number starts with the letter “C” followed by eight digits, again nine characters. The “C” prefix makes it easy to tell at a glance whether a number belongs to a card or a book.
The nine-character length matches the international standard set by the International Civil Aviation Organization for machine-readable travel documents. The two lines of characters at the bottom of your data page encode the passport number along with your name, nationality, and date of birth so border systems can read it automatically.
The Number Changes Every Time You Renew
Every renewal or replacement produces a completely new passport number with no link to the previous one.2U.S. Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions about Passport Services Because the number belongs to the document, once a passport expires or is reported lost or stolen, that number is retired for good.
That has practical consequences. Any system holding your old number needs the new one:
- ESTA. Customs and Border Protection requires a new Electronic System for Travel Authorization application whenever you get a new passport, even if the existing ESTA has not expired. Without an ESTA tied to the current passport, you can be denied boarding or turned away at the port of entry.3U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Frequently Asked Questions about the Visa Waiver Program and ESTA
- DHS Trusted Traveler Programs. Membership in programs like Global Entry or NEXUS stays valid when your passport expires, but you need to update the account with the new passport before using the benefits again.4U.S. Department of State. DHS Trusted Traveler Programs
- Airline reservations. The passport number on your booking must match the document you present at check-in. Update it through the airline’s booking management page or customer service well before departure.
A Valid Visa in an Expired Passport
Renewing your passport does not invalidate a US visa still stuck inside the old one. You can travel by carrying both documents: the expired passport containing the valid visa and the new passport.5U.S. Department of State. About Visas – The Basics Both must be from the same country, and the visa must be undamaged and appropriate for your trip. On admission, a CBP officer stamps the new passport and annotates it “VIOPP,” for Visa In Other Passport.
Do not try to peel the visa out of the old passport and move it. That voids the visa, and you would have to apply and pay for a new one.
Retrieving Your Number if You No Longer Have the Passport
If your passport is lost or destroyed and you still need the number, you can request your passport records from the State Department under the Privacy Act, which gives you the right to access records the government keeps about you.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S. Code 552a – Records Maintained on Individuals The request goes in writing to the Office of Records Management in Sterling, Virginia, and must include your full name (with any prior names), date and place of birth, the approximate date the passport was issued, a copy of a government photo ID, and either a notarized signature or a signed statement under penalty of perjury.7U.S. Department of State. Get Copies of Passport Records Processing time is not on a fixed schedule and depends on volume, so start early if you need the number for an upcoming trip or application.
Keeping the Number Safe
A passport number on its own is not enough to steal your identity. The risk grows when it is combined with other personal information such as your name, date of birth, and address, which together can support fraudulent documents or accounts.
Most compromises do not involve losing the physical book. Data breaches at hotels, airlines, and travel booking services expose passport details in bulk, and fake renewal websites are a recurring scheme aimed at harvesting the same information. Enter your passport details only on the official State Department site at travel.state.gov, and avoid emailing or texting the number when you can help it. Store the passport itself somewhere secure between trips, and destroy an expired passport you no longer need by cutting through the data page and the machine-readable zone so nothing can be copied off it.