For most people, the answer to what to do with old passports is simple: keep them. An expired U.S. passport still proves your citizenship, documents where and when you’ve traveled, may hold visas that are still usable, and can even get you through airport security. Destroying one makes sense only if you’re confident you’ll never need it again and want to remove the identity-theft risk of storing it.
Why an Expired Passport Is Still Worth Keeping
It Still Proves You’re a U.S. Citizen
An expired U.S. passport works as evidence of citizenship in a range of official settings. Federal regulations governing programs like Medicaid accept a U.S. passport as documentary proof of citizenship “without regard to any expiration date.”1eCFR. 42 CFR 435.407 – Types of Acceptable Documentary Evidence of Citizenship That’s unusual. Very few documents simultaneously prove who you are and that you’re a citizen, and an old passport is one of them.
It Can Get You Through Airport Security
TSA accepts expired identification, including passports, for up to two years past the expiration date. This matters more since REAL ID enforcement began in May 2025, because state driver’s licenses that aren’t REAL ID-compliant are no longer accepted at airports. If your license isn’t upgraded yet, an old passport within the two-year window will get you through the checkpoint. Starting February 1, 2026, travelers without any acceptable ID can pay a $45 fee to use TSA ConfirmID as a last resort, but keeping your old passport handy avoids that entirely.2Transportation Security Administration. Acceptable Identification at the TSA Checkpoint
It Holds Your Travel History
The entry and exit stamps in your old passport are the most accessible record of where you’ve been. If you apply for naturalization, USCIS reviews your passport to confirm dates of entry and exit as part of verifying continuous residence and physical presence.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form N-400 Instructions for Application for Naturalization If you apply for a federal security clearance, the SF-86 background investigation form requires you to list all foreign travel for the previous seven years, including short trips to Canada and Mexico.4Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. DCSA SF-86 Guide – Common Errors and Tips Reconstructing that from memory is unreliable. Some foreign consulates also ask visa applicants to show travel history from previous passports.
Valid Visas Don’t Die With the Passport
A visa doesn’t automatically expire when the passport holding it is cancelled. The U.S. allows foreign travelers to enter with a valid visa in an expired passport, provided they also carry a current passport from the same country and the visa is undamaged and matches the purpose of travel. Customs officers stamp the new passport and note the visa is in the older one. Many countries follow similar rules, though they vary, so check with the relevant embassy before travel. Never try to remove a visa from an old passport and place it in a new one. That voids the visa.5Travel.State.Gov. About Visas – The Basics
What Renewal Does to Your Old Passport
When you renew, the State Department cancels your old passport and mails it back to you separately, usually within about four weeks after the new one arrives.6Travel.State.Gov. Frequently Asked Questions about Passport Services You don’t lose the old book by renewing. Once it’s back in your hands, cancelled, it can still do everything described above.
A Deceased Relative’s Passport
When a family member dies, their passport should be cancelled so it can’t be misused. Mail it to the State Department’s Consular Lost and Stolen Passport Unit along with a certified copy of the death certificate and a letter requesting cancellation. If you want the cancelled passport returned as a keepsake, say so in the letter. The address is:
U.S. Department of State
Consular Lost and Stolen Passport Unit (CLASP)
44132 Mercure Circle
P.O. Box 1227
Sterling, VA 20166-12277U.S. Department of State. Report Your Passport Lost or Stolen
An uncancelled passport belonging to someone who has died is the kind of document identity thieves look for, so don’t leave it sitting in a drawer indefinitely.
If You’ve Decided to Destroy It
If you’re sure you won’t need the old passport again, the goal is to make the personal information completely unrecoverable. Your passport contains your full name, date of birth, place of birth, photograph, and passport number. Since August 2006, U.S. passports have also included an embedded electronic chip storing biometric data.8U.S. Department of State. Department of State Begins Issuing Electronic Passports to the Public
For passports issued before August 2006, physical destruction is straightforward. Cut the photo page into small pieces and shred or cut the remaining pages so no personal details are legible. A cross-cut shredder handles it well. Don’t just throw a whole passport in the trash.
For passports issued after August 2006, the chip complicates things. It stores the same data printed in the passport plus a digital version of your photo. Cutting the pages handles the printed information, but the chip sits in the back cover and is harder to destroy thoroughly at home. Some people use a hole punch or a hammer to physically damage the chip area before shredding the rest. Professional document shredding services that handle electronic media are another option. The State Department does not publish specific home-destruction guidance, so the safest approach for a chipped passport is to be thorough with both the pages and the chip.
Storing Old Passports Safely
If you’re keeping the passport, treat it like any other sensitive identity document. A fireproof safe, a locked filing cabinet, or a bank safe deposit box all work. The point is to keep it somewhere a burglar or a casual visitor wouldn’t stumble onto it. An old passport sitting in a junk drawer alongside takeout menus is a gift to anyone who picks it up. Store it with your other important documents and you’ll also know where to find it the next time you renew, apply for a visa, or fill out a background check form.