No More Delays: Renew Your Passport Online
Service currently available to adults whose passports have expired within the last five years
By Rick Wills
Published October 7, 2024
Read Time: 3 mins
Renewing a passport just got much easier and faster.
Americans can now, at no extra cost, renew their passports online, eliminating a slow paper application process by mail that frequently caused delays.
The State Department announced last week that its online renewal system is now fully operational and available to adult passport holders whose passport has expired within the past five years or will expire in the coming year.
The renewal system is not available to renew children’s passports, for first-time passport applicants, renewal applicants who live outside the United States or expedited applications.
U.S. passports are good for 10 years, and passport holders can renew online and pay by credit or debit card. Eligible applicants must be 25 or older, be renewing a passport issued between 2009 and 2015, and live in a U.S. state or territory. Applicants will also have to upload a digital passport photo. You must have your old passport.
“By offering this online alternative to the traditional paper application process, the Department is embracing digital transformation to offer the most efficient and convenient passport renewal experience possible,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
About 5 million Americans a year will be able to use this service, the department estimates. Last year, it processed 24 million passports. About 40 percent were renewals.
There will be no change to the existing passport processing fees, currently $130 for a regular renewal.
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter, whose bureau oversees passport processing, said the department hopes to expand the program in the coming years to possibly include Americans living abroad, those seeking to renew a second passport and childre