If your passport application is rejected, what happens next depends entirely on which kind of rejection you’re facing. Most applications aren’t permanently refused; they’re suspended while the State Department waits for you to fix a paperwork problem, and you’ll get a letter explaining what’s wrong. True denials are narrower and reserved for legal reasons like past-due child support over $2,500, seriously delinquent federal tax debt over $66,000, or certain criminal matters. Either way, you have a deadline. Miss it and your file may close, taking your fees with it.
Suspension or Denial
These are two different situations, and confusing them will cost you time. A suspension means something on your application was incomplete or incorrect: a missing signature, a blurry photo, a name discrepancy, an unsigned form. Processing pauses, the State Department contacts you, and once you send the right information, processing resumes. Most rejections fall here.
A denial means federal law or regulation prohibits the government from issuing you a passport at all. You cannot fix a denial by resubmitting documents. You have to resolve the underlying legal problem, or in some cases request a formal hearing. Suspensions typically clear in days or weeks. Denials can take months.
How You’ll Be Told
The State Department sends a letter by mail explaining the specific problem and what you need to do.1U.S. Department of State. Respond to a Letter or Email Sometimes the agency also reaches out by email or phone. If you get a call, you can resolve the issue on the phone or ask for a written letter instead.
Your online application status will change to “Additional Information Needed” on the date the letter goes out. Read the letter carefully. It tells you exactly what’s missing, where to send your response, and whether you can reply by email. Keep it. You’ll need to include it with anything you resubmit.
Why Applications Get Suspended
Nearly all rejections are paperwork problems, and the same handful of issues cause most of them.
Form Errors
Missing signatures, blank required fields, missing pages, a misspelled name, or a wrong date of birth will all trigger a suspension.1U.S. Department of State. Respond to a Letter or Email If you’ve changed your name and didn’t include enough documentation, expect a request for a certified court order, marriage certificate, or divorce decree.
Citizenship Evidence Problems
Your birth certificate or other citizenship document must be an original or certified copy with the issuing office’s official seal or stamp. Photocopies without the seal are not accepted, and electronic or mobile birth certificates aren’t either. Any photocopies submitted alongside the original must be clear, legible, single-sided, and on standard white paper.2U.S. Department of State. Get Citizenship Evidence for a U.S. Passport If you don’t have the original, you’ll need to order a replacement from the vital records office that issued it. State fees for certified copies generally run between $10 and $35.
Bad Photos
Photos must be 2 x 2 inches, taken within the last six months, printed on photo-quality paper, with a white or off-white background and a neutral expression. No filters, no AI editing, no glasses.3U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passport Photos This is the easiest problem to fix. Most pharmacies and shipping stores produce compliant photos in minutes.
Wrong Fees
A new adult passport book is $130 for the application fee plus a $35 execution fee at the acceptance facility, totaling $165.4U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees Wrong amounts, unacceptable payment methods, or forgetting the execution fee will stall your file.
Missing Social Security Number
Federal law requires your Social Security number on the application. Leaving it off exposes you to a $500 IRS penalty.5Social Security Administration. POMS RM 10225.120 Social Security Numbers for Passport Applications If you’ve never been assigned one, you may enter zeros on the form.
Children Under 16 Without Proper Consent
Both parents or legal guardians must consent in person for a child’s passport. If one parent can’t attend, the absent parent must sign a notarized Statement of Consent (Form DS-3053). A parent with sole custody must show a court order proving it, and if the other parent can’t be located, the applying parent submits Form DS-5525 and may need to provide a custody order or restraining order.6U.S. Department of State. Apply for a Child’s Passport Under 16 Missing consent documents will stop the application cold.
Legal Reasons the Government Will Deny You
These are the situations where no amount of paperwork will get your passport moving until you resolve the underlying issue.
Child Support Over $2,500
Owe more than $2,500 in past-due child support and your name is automatically forwarded to the State Department for denial through the federal Passport Denial Program.7Administration for Children & Families. How Does the Passport Denial Program Work? You’ll get a Pre-Offset Notice before this happens. Paying the balance down below $2,500 doesn’t remove you from the list on its own. The submitting state has to request removal, or your debt has to reach zero.
Federal Tax Debt Over $66,000
Under the FAST Act, the IRS certifies taxpayers who owe more than $66,000 in assessed, legally enforceable federal tax debt (including penalties and interest) to the State Department for passport denial, with the threshold adjusted annually for inflation.8Internal Revenue Service. Revocation or Denial of Passport in Cases of Certain Unpaid Taxes The State Department can also revoke a passport you already hold. You won’t be certified if you’re paying under an installment agreement, have a pending offer in compromise, or have collection suspended due to a due process hearing.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7345 Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies Once resolved, the IRS notifies the State Department within 30 days.
Criminal Matters
The State Department can deny your passport if you’re the subject of an outstanding federal or state felony arrest warrant, a court order or condition of probation or parole that forbids leaving the country, a pending extradition request, or a federal subpoena in a felony prosecution or grand jury investigation.10eCFR. 22 CFR 51.60 Denial and Restriction of Passports A general felony conviction by itself, without one of these active legal proceedings, does not disqualify you.
Drug trafficking is separate. If you were convicted of a federal or state drug felony and used a passport or crossed an international border while committing the offense, you’re ineligible during any period of imprisonment, parole, or supervised release.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 USC 2714 Denial of Passports to Certain Convicted Drug Traffickers
Registered Sex Offenders
Under International Megan’s Law, a registered sex offender convicted of an offense against a minor can still receive a passport, but it must carry a conspicuous endorsement identifying the conviction.10eCFR. 22 CFR 51.60 Denial and Restriction of Passports A passport card may be denied outright to certain convicted sex offenders.
Defaulted Repatriation Loan
If the U.S. government previously loaned you money to return home from a foreign country under the emergency repatriation program and you defaulted, the State Department can only issue you a limited passport for direct return to the United States.10eCFR. 22 CFR 51.60 Denial and Restriction of Passports This applies only to those specific loans, not to federal student loans or other federal debts.
You Have 90 Days to Respond
When the State Department sends a letter asking for more information, you have 90 days from the date on the letter to respond.1U.S. Department of State. Respond to a Letter or Email After that, your file may be closed.
Here’s the expensive part. The State Department keeps both the $130 application fee and the $35 execution fee whether a passport is issued or not.12U.S. Department of State. All Other Sidebars If your file closes, you start over. New application, all fees again. The one narrow refund possibility: if you paid the $60 expedited processing fee and the Department didn’t provide expedited service, you can request that $60 back. Travel expenses lost because of a delayed or denied passport aren’t reimbursable.
If you know it will take longer than 90 days to get what’s needed, say a replacement birth certificate from another country, contact the State Department before the deadline. The letter you received will list contact information. That won’t guarantee an extension, but letting the file quietly expire guarantees you lose your fees.
Fixing a Suspended Application
Your letter tells you exactly what to send and where to send it. Follow it precisely rather than improvising.
- For missing or incorrect documents, order the specific item the letter asks for: a certified birth certificate from the vital records office of the state where you were born, or a certified copy of the court order, marriage certificate, or divorce decree that proves a name change.
- For form errors, correct the application as instructed. Sometimes you’ll need to complete a new form rather than amend the old one.
- For photo problems, get new photos taken that meet every specification.3U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passport Photos
- If you applied by mail using Form DS-82 and the Department decided you’re not eligible to renew, you’ll need to apply in person with a new application and include the letter you received.1U.S. Department of State. Respond to a Letter or Email
Include the original letter with your response so the agency can match your materials to your file. Send everything to the address in the letter, not to a general passport processing address.
Requesting a Hearing After a Denial
If your passport is denied for most legal reasons listed under 22 CFR 51.60, you can request a hearing. The written request must be received by the State Department within 60 days of your receipt of the denial notice.13eCFR. 22 CFR Part 51 Subpart F Procedures for Review of Certain Denials and Revocations Miss that window and the denial becomes final with no further administrative review.
At the hearing, you can present evidence and argue the denial was wrong. A hearing officer makes preliminary findings; the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services issues the final written decision. That decision is final at the administrative level, though it may be challengeable in federal court.
Not every denial qualifies. Denials based on drug trafficking convictions and denials tied to the sex offender passport identifier are excluded from the hearing procedures. For those, your only path to a passport is resolving the underlying criminal matter.
Life-or-Death Emergencies
If your application is suspended or denied and you need to travel internationally within 14 days because an immediate family member abroad has died, is dying, or has a life-threatening illness or injury, you may qualify for a life-or-death emergency appointment at a passport agency. Call 1-877-487-2778 with your travel proof and documentation of the emergency.14U.S. Department of State. How to Get My U.S. Passport Fast An emergency appointment can accelerate a paperwork-stalled file. It won’t override a legal denial for unpaid child support or tax debt.