Passports

Have international travel plans? Start planning your trip as soon as possible and have a valid passport before making any irreversible plan. 

Click Here for General Passport Information

Submit Your Casework Request Here 

Passport Applications

The United States Passport Agency is experiencing an unprecedented demand for expedited passport processing and is currently prioritizing inquiries for applicants who have life or death emergencies or scheduled travel within the next two weeks (or within the next four weeks if they need to apply for a foreign visa). The agency has requested that congressional staff limit inquiries for passengers traveling more than two weeks out (or four weeks for visa applicants) in order to access the most time sensitive requests first.

Processing Times

Processing times are currently 4 to 6 weeks for routine processing, and 2 to 3 weeks (and an extra $60) for expedited processing. Processing times only include the time your application is at a passport agency or center. The total time to get your passport includes both processing and mailing times. It may take up to 2 weeks for applications to arrive by mail at a passport agency/center, and up to 2 weeks for you to receive a completed passport in the mail after it’s printed. Therefore, you must consider the total time it will take to receive your passport when you are booking travel. For more information, visit travel.state.gov.

Passport Tasks

1. Apply for your passport 6-9 months before your passport expiration date or planned travel.
2. Visit travel.state.gov/destination. Many countries require six months of passport validity.
3. Check important travel advisories and register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), a free service to enroll your trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. 
4. Book your travel.

Getting Started

How to Apply
How to Renew
Country-Specific Passport Validity Requirements

Watch this video to learn if you can renew your passport by mail.

Image

Congressional Inquiries

If you have followed all the steps recommended by the Passport Agency and you still need your passport within two weeks of travel (or four weeks for visa applicants), you may submit a privacy release form to allow our office to initiate an inquiry to the agency on your behalf. Please review the below instructions before you submit your request.

All Privacy Release forms MUST include:

• The full name, birthdate, and passport application number for the passport applicant(s).
  • If you do not know your passport application number, you may click here to look up your application status online. 
  • If you do not have a pending application, please indicate why.
  • All adult passport applicants must submit a separate form, but if you are inquiring on behalf of a child's application, then a parent or legal guardian must sign the form and include the names, birthdates, and application numbers for each applicant. Be sure to establish parental relationship within your statement with a line such as, “I am his mother.”
• The date you submitted the application and whether you paid for expedited processing/shipping.
  • If you did not initially pay for expedited processing or shipping, you want your passport faster, and you are still within current processing times for your application, you may be allowed to pay the expedite fee. You can do so over the phone by calling 1-877-487-2778.
• Proof of your date of travel within the next two weeks (four weeks for visa applicants) or of the urgent nature of your request.
  • Date of travel proof may include a pdf or screenshot of your email receipt from the airline, the cruise line, your foreign hotel accommodations, etc.
  • Make sure that the proof you provide includes your name in addition to the date of travel. 
  • If you do not have travel accommodations booked, additional evidence could include a doctor's note or death certificate for a relative abroad, a funeral invitation, a letter from your employer detailing the urgent need for work travel, a copy of an invitation to an event abroad, etc.

Note: Please do not submit congressional inquiries through more than one Member of Congress or Senator.