U.S. Passport Renewal

A renewal replaces a passport that was issued to you at age 16 or older, within the last 15 years, and for the full ten-year period. The passport must be in your possession, undamaged beyond normal wear, and never reported lost or stolen, because a reported passport was cancelled at the time of the report. The name in the passport must be your current name, or you must hold a certified document that shows how it changed. When any one of these conditions is not met, a new passport application applies instead, and our eligibility questions identify that before you begin. A passport issued before age 16 cannot be renewed under any circumstances, even when it was issued recently.

Because your previous passport already established your citizenship and identity, a renewal does not ask you to prove either again. The previous passport book or card is submitted with the application and serves as both. You also provide one recent color photo, taken within the last six months, measuring two inches by two inches, against a white or off-white background, with a neutral expression and glasses removed. If your name has changed since the passport was issued, a certified copy of the marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order is included. Photocopies are not accepted, and original documents are returned to you. The application itself asks for your personal details, the details of the passport being renewed, and your choice of a passport book, a passport card, or both.

You complete the renewal application online in about 15 minutes, and you can save your progress and return at any time. The eligibility questions come first and confirm that a renewal applies to your passport before any further detail is collected. Our team then prechecks your answers for completeness and consistency, checking that dates, names, and passport details agree with one another and that nothing required has been left blank. Once your application has been processed, your completed documents are available in your account, together with instructions for the remaining steps and a checklist of what to include with them. You follow those instructions at your own pace, with the application already complete.

A renewed passport book carries a fresh ten years of validity from the date it is issued. The previous passport is cancelled, usually by a hole punch or a marking, and returned to you separately from the new passport, along with any original documents you included. A passport card renewed at the same time remains valid only for land and sea crossings from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean; international air travel still requires the book. Keep the cancelled passport, since it records your travel history and the visas it holds. The new passport carries a new number, so airline profiles and other records that hold the old number should be updated once it arrives.