As of October 2026, the State Department quotes 4–6 weeks for routine passport renewal and 2–3 weeks for expedited service, which costs $60 extra. Neither number includes the mail: your application can take up to two weeks to reach them and your new passport up to two weeks to come back. So a routine renewal is realistically a two-month errand, and an adult passport book costs $130.
If your trip is less than six weeks away, the State Department's own advice is to pay for expedited service. If it's less than 14 days away, you're in passport-agency territory.
- 4–6 weeksroutine processingmailing time not included
- 2–3 weeksexpedited processing$60 extra
- ≤ 2 weeksmail each wayto the State Department, and back to you
- $130adult passport book renewalcard $30, both $160
As of October 2026 · Source: travel.state.gov (Get Your Passport Fast, Passport Fees). Times change with demand — check the official page the day you apply.
Processing time is only the middle of the wait
The State Department counts processing time from the day your application arrives at a passport agency or center until the day it mails your passport. Everything before and after is on the postal service:
- Getting there: up to two weeks. You can pay for faster USPS Priority Mail Express shipping when you send it.
- Coming back: up to two weeks, or 1–3 days if you paid $22.05 for faster return delivery (books only; cards always go First Class).
- Your old passport: it comes back separately and may arrive up to four weeks after the new one. Don't panic when the envelope with the new book has nothing else in it.
Times also move with the seasons. Demand is highest from late winter into summer, and the State Department itself recommends applying from October through December, when it's quieter.
Which renewal route you can use
Online is the easiest if you qualify. All of these have to be true:
- your current passport was issued for 10 years, and it expires within the next year or expired less than five years ago
- you're 25 or older
- you're not changing your name or sex
- you're in a U.S. state or territory when you apply
- you aren't traveling for at least six weeks — online renewal is routine service only
You pay by card, upload a digital photo, and keep your old passport — but it's cancelled once you submit, so you can't travel on it while you wait.
By mail with Form DS-82 works if your most recent passport was issued in the last 15 years, when you were 16 or older, isn't damaged, and is in your current name (or you include a marriage certificate or court order showing the change). You send the old passport with the application and pay by check or money order.
In person with Form DS-11 is for everyone else — a passport issued before you turned 16, one older than 15 years, or one that's lost or damaged. That route is a new application, not a renewal, and adds a $35 acceptance fee.
Expedited service and the 14-day rule
- Passport book (renewal, DS-82 or online)
- $130
- Passport card (renewal)
- $30
- Book and card together
- $160
- Expedited servicenot available for online renewal
- + $60
- 1–3 day return deliverypassport books only
- + $22.05
- Acceptance facility feeonly first-time and in-person DS-11 applications pay the $35
- $0
Fees from travel.state.gov, as of October 2026. Faster shipping on the way in is paid separately at the post office.
Expedited service costs $60 on top of the application fee and cuts processing to 2–3 weeks. You can request it on a mail renewal or at an acceptance facility; online renewal doesn't offer it.
If you need the passport sooner than that, the option is an appointment at a passport agency or center. You must have international travel within the next 14 calendar days and bring proof of it. There's no extra charge beyond the $60 expedite fee, and for life-or-death emergencies the State Department has a separate appointment type.
What renewal costs, line by line
- Day 0You mail Form DS-82, old passport, photo and check
- Up to 2 weeksApplication travels to the State Department
- 4–6 weeksRoutine processing (2–3 weeks if expedited)
- Up to 2 weeksNew passport mailed back to you
- Up to 4 weeks laterOld passport returned in a separate envelope
Mailing estimates from travel.state.gov. Plan around the total, not the processing number.
A mail or online renewal has no acceptance fee — you pay the State Department directly. The usual totals:
| You need | Routine | Expedited |
|---|---|---|
| Passport book | $130 | $190 |
| Passport card | $30 | $90 |
| Book and card | $160 | $220 |
Add $22.05 if you want the book delivered 1–3 days after it's mailed. Children under 16 can't renew; they apply in person every time ($100 plus $35 for a book).
Plan backward from the trip
Work it out from your departure date, not from today:
- More than three months away: routine renewal, online if you qualify. Done.
- Six weeks to three months: routine still works on paper, but the mail eats into your margin. Expedited is cheap insurance.
- Under six weeks: expedited by mail, and pay for faster shipping both ways.
- Under 14 days: passport agency appointment.
And check the destination, not just the expiry date. Some countries refuse entry if your passport expires in less than six months, so a passport that's “still valid” may already be too short — the six-month rule guide lists them, and the passport validity calculator does the math for a specific trip. If yours has already lapsed, see what you can still do with an expired passport.
Never get caught by the date again
The manual way: photograph your passport's data page, write down the expiration date, and set a calendar reminder nine months before it — that covers the six-month entry rule plus a routine renewal with room to spare. If you have a family, do it for every passport, since children's passports last only five years.
Paperlock does this part for you: it reads the expiration date from the photo, keeps the passport in a Face-ID-locked vault and, once you switch reminders on, nudges you six months, 30 days and 7 days before it expires.
Fees and processing times on this page were checked on travel.state.gov in October 2026. They change, so confirm both on the State Department's site the day you apply.