Where to Find Your Redress Number: Passport, KTN, and Renewals

Your Redress Number is not printed on your U.S. passport, and it never has been. It is a separate seven-digit identifier issued by the Department of Homeland Security, not the Department of State, and only travelers who have filed an inquiry through the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) have one. If you already applied, you can find your number by signing into the DHS TRIP Portal at trip.dhs.gov and checking your profile or your most recent closed case file.1Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions – DHS Trip

Why the Passport Doesn’t Carry It

Passports are issued by the U.S. Department of State as proof of citizenship and identity for international travel.2U.S. Department of State. About Us – Travel They carry biographical data, a photograph, and embedded security features, and that is all.

The Redress Number belongs to a different system entirely. It is a DHS TRIP identifier tied to a specific screening inquiry, used by TSA’s Secure Flight program to distinguish a traveler from someone whose name closely matches a watch list entry.3Homeland Security. DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) Two agencies, two purposes, two documents. The passport will never display it, and no page or chip inside the passport encodes it.

Where to Find Your Redress Number If You Already Have One

Log into the DHS TRIP Portal at trip.dhs.gov. Your seven-digit Redress Control Number appears in two places inside your account:

  • In the Redress Control Number section of your profile.
  • In your final determination letter. Go to “My Cases,” open your most recently closed case, scroll to the bottom, and open the DHS TRIP communications.1Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions – DHS Trip

The number is assigned as soon as you submit the Traveler Inquiry Form, so you can see it and use it to track your case right away. It becomes fully functional for screening purposes once DHS TRIP closes your case and posts the final determination letter.3Homeland Security. DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP)

If you never set up a portal account and you never received a determination letter, contact DHS TRIP at TRIP@tsa.dhs.gov.1Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions – DHS Trip

What If You Don’t Have One?

Most travelers do not have a Redress Number and do not need one. If an airline reservation form asks for one and you never applied for it, leave the field blank.4U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Redress Control Numbers

You would apply only if you are repeatedly flagged at airport security or the border, denied or delayed boarding, or pushed into secondary inspection in a pattern that suggests a name mix-up. The program exists because federal law requires Secure Flight to give affected passengers a way to appeal and correct errors.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 44903 – Air Transportation Security

To apply, go to trip.dhs.gov, create an account through Login.gov, and complete the Traveler Inquiry Form describing the problems you have experienced. DHS TRIP recommends submitting a legible copy of the biographical page of your unexpired passport for the fastest response; a driver’s license or other unexpired government-issued photo ID works if you do not have a passport.1Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions – DHS Trip DHS does not publish a fixed processing timeline; review length depends on the complexity of the case.

Don’t Confuse It With Your Known Traveler Number

Airline booking pages sit two lookalike fields next to each other, and travelers routinely put the wrong number in the wrong one. They are not interchangeable.1Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions – DHS Trip

  • The Redress Number is seven digits, issued by DHS TRIP, and its job is to prevent misidentification during screening.
  • The Known Traveler Number (KTN) is nine or ten digits, tied to TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI, and its job is to qualify you for expedited screening. For Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI members, the KTN is the CBP PASS ID.6Transportation Security Administration. What Is a Known Traveler Number (KTN)?

You can hold both at once. Enter each in its own field. A Redress Number placed in the KTN box will not produce PreCheck, and a KTN placed in the Redress box will not fix a screening mismatch.

When Your Passport Changes, Your Redress Number Doesn’t

Redress Numbers do not expire, and getting a new passport does not require a new number. The same is true if your name changes or you move. Email your updated information, along with your existing Redress Control Number, to TRIP@tsa.dhs.gov, and DHS TRIP will update your record.1Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions – DHS Trip

Once you have the number, provide it whenever you book a flight. Most airline sites and online travel agencies have a dedicated Redress Number field in the passenger information section, and you can save it to your frequent flyer profile so it applies automatically to future reservations.4U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Redress Control Numbers Secure Flight applies to all airlines flying to, from, or over the United States, so the field should be available on foreign carriers as well.1Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions – DHS Trip