To get a US passport for the first time, you need four things and a payment: Form DS-11 (filled out, not signed), proof of US citizenship (usually your birth certificate), a government photo ID plus a photocopy of its front and back, and one passport photo (2x2 inches, white background, recent). You bring all of it, in person, to a passport acceptance facility — most often a post office — and pay the application and execution fees, which are listed on travel.state.gov.

That's the whole answer for a first-time adult. The rest is the details that trip people up: what counts as proof of citizenship, when you can renew by mail instead, what changes for children under 16, and what to do about a name change or a lost passport.

The first-time checklist (adults, in person)

If you've never had a US passport, your last one was issued before you turned 16, or it's been more than 15 years since yours was issued, you're applying in person with Form DS-11. Bring:

  1. Form DS-11, completed but unsigned. Fill it out online at travel.state.gov (it produces a printable PDF with a barcode) or print a blank one and use black ink. Don't sign it — you sign in front of the acceptance agent, who witnesses it.
  2. Proof of US citizenship, original or certified copy. A birth certificate for most people; details in the table below.
  3. A photocopy of that citizenship document, front and back, on plain white letter-size paper, one side per sheet, not reduced.
  4. A valid photo ID. Driver's license, state ID, military ID, or similar. You show it; the agent keeps nothing.
  5. A photocopy of the photo ID, same rules: front and back, plain white paper, 8.5 x 11 inches.
  6. One passport photo, 2x2 inches, taken in the last six months. Don't staple it; the agent attaches it.
  7. Payment. Two separate fees: the application fee goes to the US Department of State (check or money order, typically), and the execution fee goes to the facility, which usually takes cards. Current amounts are on travel.state.gov and change every year or two, so check before you go.

You'll also need your Social Security number for the form. You don't need the card.

What counts and what doesn't: the document table

Most rejected applications come down to one of these rows.

Document What counts What doesn't
Proof of citizenship: birth certificate Issued by the city, county, or state; lists your full name, date and place of birth, and at least one parent's full name; carries the registrar's signature and a raised, embossed, or multicolored seal; filed within one year of birth Hospital "keepsake" certificates with footprints; abstract or short-form versions missing parents' names; photocopies; laminated certificates; anything with a filing date more than a year after birth (you'll need extra "early public records")
Proof of citizenship: naturalization or citizenship certificate The original certificate issued by USCIS (or the former INS) A photocopy on its own (copying it for the passport application is allowed, and required)
Proof of citizenship: previous US passport A fully valid or expired US passport book or card, undamaged A passport that's been reported lost or stolen, or is damaged enough to be questionable
Proof of citizenship: born abroad to US parents Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) or Certification of Birth Abroad A foreign birth certificate on its own
Photo ID Valid driver's license, state-issued ID, military ID, federal, state, or city government employee ID, a valid foreign passport, a current or recently expired US passport, or a Certificate of Naturalization Social Security card, credit card, student ID on its own, temporary paper licenses without a photo, IDs that have expired
Photocopy of both documents Front and back, black and white on plain white 8.5 x 11 paper, one side per page, same size as the original Double-sided copies, colored paper, reduced or enlarged copies, a photo on your phone
Passport photo One color photo, 2 x 2 inches, head 1 to 1 3/8 inches from chin to crown, taken within six months, plain white or off-white background, neutral expression or natural smile, eyes open, no glasses, no uniform, no headphones Selfies with a busy background, photos with glasses (even clear ones), hats, filters, shadows across the face, photos older than six months, a photo that looks noticeably different from your current appearance

Two notes on the citizenship row, where most of the form letters come from:

  • Check the parents' names before you leave the house. Some states issued short-form certificates for years that show only the child's name and date of birth. The State Department won't accept those; you'll need to order the long-form version from the state's vital records office, which takes weeks.
  • You get the original back. Your birth certificate or naturalization certificate is mailed back to you separately from the new passport, often a few days apart. Don't panic when the passport arrives alone.

If your ID is from another state or was issued very recently, the agent may ask for a second form of ID — an older expired license alongside the current one saves a return trip.

Renewing by mail with Form DS-82

Renewal is easier than a first application — no acceptance facility, no witness, no citizenship evidence beyond the old passport. You qualify for mail-in renewal if your most recent passport meets all of these:

  • It's undamaged, and you still have it (you mail it in with the form).
  • It was issued within the last 15 years.
  • It was issued when you were 16 or older.
  • It's in your current name, or you can include a certified marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order showing the change.

If all four are true, send Form DS-82, the old passport, one new photo, and a check or money order for the renewal fee to the address printed on the form. Many people can now also renew online through travel.state.gov, which replaces the paper form and the mailed photo with a digital upload — the eligibility conditions are similar, and the site walks you through whether you qualify.

If any of the four conditions fails — the passport was damaged in the wash, it's 16 years old, it was your childhood passport, or your name changed and you can't document it — you're back to Form DS-11 in person, with the full first-time checklist above. The old passport still counts as your proof of citizenship in that case, which is one less document to dig up.

Passports for children under 16

Kids' passports are where the post office line slows down, because the rules are stricter and half the families in it are missing one thing. A child under 16 needs:

  • Form DS-11, completed but unsigned. Both parents sign in front of the agent, not before.
  • The child's proof of US citizenship — the birth certificate, almost always — plus a photocopy.
  • Proof of the parental relationship. A birth certificate listing both parents does double duty here. Adoption decrees, court orders for custody or guardianship, or a foreign birth certificate with a certified translation all work too.
  • Both parents' photo IDs, plus photocopies of each, front and back.
  • One passport photo of the child, same 2x2 rules. Infants can be photographed lying on a white sheet or in a car seat draped in white, eyes open if at all possible; the State Department is realistic about newborns.
  • Fees, which are lower for minors than for adults and listed on travel.state.gov.

The big rule: both parents or guardians must appear in person with the child. If one parent can't make it, that parent signs Form DS-3053 (Statement of Consent) in front of a notary, and the present parent brings the signed form plus a photocopy of the absent parent's ID — front and back, same paper rules. The notarized consent is valid for 90 days. If one parent has sole legal custody, bring the custody order instead; if the other parent can't be located at all, Form DS-5525 explains the circumstances.

Children's passports are valid for five years, not ten, and they can't be renewed by mail — every new one is a fresh DS-11 appointment with everybody present. Ages 16 and 17 also apply with DS-11, but get a ten-year passport and need only one parent's consent.

Name changes

Your passport has to match your tickets, which means it has to match your current legal name. How you handle that depends on timing:

  • Name changed, passport issued less than a year ago: use Form DS-5504, mail it with the passport, a new photo, and your marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order. Check travel.state.gov for whether a fee applies.
  • Name changed, passport older than a year but otherwise eligible for renewal: use DS-82 and include the original or certified name-change document. It comes back with the new passport.
  • Name changed and you can't document it (you've used a different name for years without a court order, for example): that's a DS-11 in person, and the agent will ask for several years of public records in the new name. Worth a call to the National Passport Information Center before you go.

The one thing not to do is book a flight in your new name while your passport still carries the old one. Airlines match the passport exactly.

Lost, stolen, or damaged passports

If your passport is lost or stolen, report it first, then replace it. The report is Form DS-64, which you can file online at travel.state.gov or on paper; it invalidates the old passport so nobody can travel on it. Then you apply with Form DS-11, in person, as a first-time applicant — you'll need proof of citizenship again, because the passport that would have proved it is gone. A copy of the lost passport's data page, if you kept one, isn't a substitute for citizenship evidence, but it gives the agent your old passport number and speeds things up.

A damaged passport — water damage, a torn data page, a chewed corner courtesy of the dog — can't be renewed by mail. Bring the damaged passport, a signed statement explaining what happened, and the full DS-11 set to an acceptance facility.

Fees and processing times (and why this page won't quote them)

There are two fees for most applications: the State Department's application fee and, for in-person applications, the facility's execution fee. Renewals by mail pay only the first. Expedited service and faster return delivery cost extra, and the passport card (land and sea crossings to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda only — no air travel) is cheaper than the book.

This page deliberately doesn't print the numbers, because they change — the State Department adjusts fees every couple of years, and processing times move with the season, from a few weeks in a quiet winter to a couple of months in the pre-summer rush. Check travel.state.gov for current fees and processing times the week you apply, and pay by the method each fee requires: the application fee generally by check or money order payable to "U.S. Department of State," the execution fee by whatever the facility takes.

Where to apply

Passport acceptance facilities handle first-time and in-person applications. There are thousands across the US: post offices, county clerk offices, public libraries, some city halls. The State Department's facility search on travel.state.gov finds the nearest one. Most post offices require an appointment, which you book through usps.com's passport page; some take walk-ins on certain days. Many facilities also take passport photos on site for a fee, which removes one errand.

By mail is only for DS-82 renewals and DS-5504 corrections. No appointment, no facility.

Passport agencies and centers are the regional State Department offices for urgent travel — generally within 14 days, or within 28 days if you also need a visa. They see you by appointment only, booked through travel.state.gov or the National Passport Information Center, and you need proof of the travel dates (an itinerary or ticket). This isn't a shortcut for routine applications; the appointment system checks the travel date.

Whichever route you take, put every document in one folder the night before, photocopies clipped behind their originals, and the appointment takes ten minutes instead of thirty.

After it arrives: the five-minute step most people skip

A passport arrives, gets a satisfied flip-through, and goes in a drawer until a panic five or ten years later. Do three things the day it arrives:

  1. Photograph the data page — the stiff page with your photo — and keep that picture somewhere better than your camera roll. A digital copy of the data page is what you'll show a consulate if the passport goes missing abroad, and it's the single most useful page in your emergency binder.
  2. Note the expiration date. Ten years for adults, five for kids, and many countries want six months of validity beyond your trip, so the real deadline is earlier than the printed one. There's a full walkthrough of how to check your passport's expiration date and what the six-month rule means.
  3. Set a reminder nine months before it expires. That's enough time for a routine renewal with no expedite fee and no stress. A calendar event with an alert works. If you save the data page in Paperlock, it reads the expiration date itself and reminds you 30 days and 7 days before it runs out, with the passport shown as a blurred thumbnail until you confirm with Face ID. Either way, the next renewal should start from a reminder, not from a check-in counter.

Then file the originals you got back where you'll find them next time. The passport itself belongs with your other travel documents, and a copy of everything belongs somewhere that survives a lost bag or a flooded basement. A renewal ten years from now should be a ten-minute form, not a hunt for a birth certificate.