Do You Know How to Apply for a Passport by Mail?
You may apply for your passport by mail if you meet the following requirements:
You can submit your most recent passport.
Your previous passport was issued on or after your 16th birthday and was issued within the past 12 years.
You use the same name as that on your most recent passport or you have had your name changed by marriage or court order, and can submit proof of the change in name
How to Proceed
Obtain Form DSP-82, Application for Passport by Mail, from one of the U.S. passport agencies, from a Federal or state court, from a U.S. post office that is authorized to accept passport applications, from your travel agent, or from the Internet.
Complete the information requested on the reverse side of the form.
- Sign and date the application.
- Include your date of departure. If no date is included, passport agents will assume that your travel plans are not immediate, and you will receive your passport within 25 working days from receipt of the application at the passport agency.
- Enclose your previous passport. (Your previous passport and other documents that you may have submitted will be returned to you with your new passport.)
- Enclose two identical 2×2 photographs.
- Enclose the $40 passport fee. (The $15 execution fee is not required for applicants eligible to apply by mail.) Check for current fees.
- If your name has changed, submit the original or certified copy of the court order or marriage certificate that shows the change of name.
- The person that you list to be notified in case of an emergency should be someone who could act on your behalf. The person should be someone to whom you have given or could give a power of attorney.
- For processing, mail the completed application and attachments to the National Passport Center, listed on the application form. An incomplete or improperly prepared application will delay issuance of your passport.
- If requesting Expedited Service, include the expedite fee.
How to Pay the Passport Fee
The following forms of payment are acceptable when you apply by mail:
A bank draft or a cashier’s check
A check: either a certified check, a personal check, or a traveler’s check (The check should be made out for the exact amount.)
A money order: either a U.S. postal money order, an international money order, a currency exchange money order or a bank money order
Checks must be made payable to Passport Services.
When You Receive Your Passport
Sign it right away! Fill in page 5, the personal notification data page. (For the emergency contact, do not include the name of your traveling companion; instead, write in pencil the name, address, and telephone number of someone who is not traveling with you.) Your previous passport and other documents that you may have submitted will be returned to you with your new passport.
