How Much Does It Cost to Get a Passport? - Expedited Passports

How much does it cost to get a passport? There’s no doubt that one of the biggest obstacles that keeps people waiting until the last possible minute to get one is the expense, especially since prices went up in 2010.

The exact amount that you’ll pay depends on two factors: what type of passport application you’re submitting, and how quickly you need your passport. Here’s a breakdown:

New Passports

If you’ve never applied for a passport before, here’s what it will cost you:

• $135 total for a passport book ($110 application fee plus a $25 execution fee)
• $55 for a passport card ($30 application fee plus a $25 execution fee). Please note, passport cards are not valid for air travel or for travel outside of the Western Hemisphere. Please see Passports vs. Passport Cards for more information.
• $165 for a passport book and a passport card. ($140 application fee plus a $25 execution fee).
• For more information about applying for a new passport, see How to Apply for a New Passport.

Passport Renewals

If you are eligible to renew your passport by mail, you’ll benefit from not having to pay the execution fee, which goes to the passport office that accepts your application. Here’s the damage:

• $110 for a passport book.
• $30 for a passport card.
• $140 for both.

For more about applying for a passport renewal, see How to Apply for a Passport Renewal (more…)

Getting a passport has never been more essential for anyone who wants to travel outside of the US. Laws that became effective over the past few years have made passports necessary where they weren’t before, including many trips to Mexico and Canada. Unfortunately, passport application fees have also never been more expensive. Last July, passport prices increased and fees were added for formerly free services like adding passport pages.

Now, two New York congressional representatives, concerned that more stringent passport requirements and higher costs could keep their constituents from being able to cross over freely into Canada, have introduced a bill to help ease the burden of getting a passport.

Representatives Brian Higgins and Kathy Hochul are co-sponsoring two bills which, if passed, would reimburse you for most of the cost of getting a passport and would also restrict what the government can charge for them.

According to YNN.com, the Passport Fee Relief Act would allow passport holders to claim a tax credit equal to the cost of the passport application fee after applying for a new passport or a passport renewal. The second bill, the Passport Acquisition Savings and Security (PASS) Act, would ensure that passport application fees are limited to what it actually costs the government to issue your passport.

The passport application fee varies depending on whether you’re applying for an adult passport, a child passport or a passport card. For example, an adult applying for a passport book and a passport card would pay an application fee of $140. If you are applying in person, there is also a $25 execution fee that goes to the office that takes your application. Under Higgins’ and Hochul’s proposal, this fee would not be reimbursable.

Representative Hochul told WKBW.com that she was inspired to co-sponsor the bill based on her time as a county clerk:

“As a former Erie County Clerk I am very aware of the high costs associated with obtaining passports. I helped process thousands of passports that cost Western New Yorkers upwards of $100 each. These prices are far too high for residents who travel across the border day after day for work and pleasure. We need to save Western New Yorkers every penny we can and these two bills will help bear much of the costs associated with obtaining a passport.”

What do you think of these bills? If they passed, would you be more likely to submit a passport application and get a passport?

According to Canada.com, Manitoba NDP MP Jim Maloway has been on a mission to lower passport application fees, not just for Canadians but also for US citizens. The idea is that lower passport application fees would enable more people on each side of the border to afford passports, which would encourage cross-border tourism.

Apparently, Maloway introduces his petition to lower passport fees about once a day. Every day, he reads the following resolutions issued by the Midwest Legislative Conference over the summer:

“RESOLVED that the Midwestern Legislative Conference calls on President Barack Obama and…[the Canadian Prime Minister] to immediately examine a reduced fee for passports to facilitate cross-border tourism; and be it further RESOLVED, that…[the Conference] encourage the governments to examine the idea of a limited-time two-for-one passport renewal or new application. To be a fair process, these passport fees have to be reduced on both sides of the border. Therefore, the petitioners call on the government to work with the American government to examine a mutual reduction in passport fees to facilitate tourism and, finally, promote a limited-time two-for-one passport renewal or new application fee on a mutual basis with the United States.”

You’ve got to admire the gentleman’s persistence, but unfortunately the US State Department seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Passport fees increased over the summer, plus fees were added for previously free services like adding pages. For example, applying for a new adult passport now costs $135 instead of $100. Submitting an adult passport application now costs $110 instead of $75.

Applying early can minimize your costs. You’ll need at least 6 to 8 weeks before your trip for normal passport processing. If you don’t have that long, you’ll be stuck paying an additional $60 fee on top of the normal application fees in order to get it three weeks’ time.

If you have less than 3 weeks, RushMyPassport is a convenient alternative. We’ll assist you with your application and then personally deliver it to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours. Plus, when you consider the time and money that you’d have to spend to take off work and travel to a Regional Passport Agency, you may very well find that we are the most cost-effective alternative as well as the most convenient.

Let us help expedite your passport application today!

On July 13th, the price to get a new passport will go up significantly, as will the cost for a passport renewal.  One county DMV office in New York is helping residents beat the price increases by making it easier to apply before they go into effect.

Erie County, New York, which sits right along the US/Canadian border and depends heavily on tourism, has set up a temporary passport acceptance office in the Amherst, New York DMV office.  Local residents are taking advantage of the help, and the passport team processed 10 applications in the first 5 minutes after the office opened.

In a report on local news website WBEN.com, Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul discussed the rationale for the temporary office:

“We’ re glad there’s a line, because …. our whole idea is to help people beat the 47 percent fee increase,” Hochul said. ” .. It helps people know that they can save a lot of money. It’s going from $100 to $135, a family of four wants to go to Marineland (Niagara Falls Ont,)  that’s a big hit. So I’m encouraging people to come in now. There may be some lines  but I’m telling you it will be worth it in the long run.”

The temporary passport office is open every day except Sunday, from 10 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. It will close down after the increased fees go into effect on Tuesday, July 13th.

For more about the passport fee increases, see Passport Fees Going Up July 13th

This passport office can help you submit your application for normal processing, which can take about 6 weeks, or for the Department of State’s expedited service, which can take 3 weeks. If you need your passport sooner than that, you’ll need to make an appointment at a different type of passport office, called a Regional Passport Agency office.

Another option, which is much more convenient, is to use a private passport expediting service like RushMyPassport. An expediting company will deliver your application to the Department of State, for processing times as low as 24 hours with no need to wait in line or drive to a passport office.

Apply for your passport today!

Are you considering getting a passport?  You’ll save a significant amount of money of money if you get your application in before July 13. That’s the day that the US Department of State’s proposed passport fee increases will go into effect.  The new fee structure will increase fees for getting a passport and for passport renewals, as well as adding a hefty price tag to currently free services like adding passport pages.

Here’s a breakdown of the proposed changes:

New passports (for first-time applicants or people who are not eligible to renew by mail)

The current application fee of $75 will increase to $110. The acceptance fee of $25 will stay the same, for a total price of $135.

Passport Renewals

The current application fee of $75 will increase to $110. When you renew by mail, there is no acceptance fee, so $110 would be the total price.

Child Passports

Passport fees for minors are increasing from $60 to $80. The $25 acceptance fee remains the same, for a total cost of $105.

Passport Cards

For adults applying for a passport card, the fee will increase from $20 to $30. For children, the fee will go from $10 to $15. Add a $25 acceptance fee if you are submitting your application in person ( required for minors and for adults who don’t have a current passport and aren’t eligible to renew by mail).

Adding Pages

Adding pages is currently free, but come July 13th, it will cost $82 to have pages added to the back.

File Search Fee

A file search fee allows the Department of State to search for records of previous passports or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad for those who are unable to include proof of citizenship with their applications.  As of July 13, file search fees will go up from $60 to $150.

Expedited Service

The fee for expedited service will stay the same, at $60 plus the cost of overnight delivery. However, bear in mind that this expedited service will only cut processing time from 6 weeks to approximately 3 weeks. If you need your passport more quickly, you will need to make an appointment at a passport agency office or use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport.

Although using an expediting company to submit your application does cost more money, for many people it is worth it because it is so much more convenient. There’s no need to make an appointment or wait in line, and no need to take off work and spend time and money traveling to a passport agency office. Plus, you get help from a professional passport specialist to help you avoid mistakes that could cause your application to be rejected.

Getting a passport? Let us help!

Two travel industry groups, the ASTA and the Interactive Travel Services Association, are urging the US Department of State to reconsider their plans to institute new, higher passport fees.  The plans, which were announced last month by the Department of State, would increase passport fees for new passports and for replacing lost or stolen passports from from $100 to $135. Fees for passport renewals would go up from $75 to $110.

In addition to increasing fees for getting or renewing a passport, the proposal would also tack on additional $82 fee for adding visa pages to an existing passport, a service that the Department of State currently performs free of charge.

In the statement submitted to the Department of State, the ASTA and ITSA made the following comments:

“While the economy is beginning to show signs of life, it is early days and we have a long way to go before travel returns to anything resembling sustainable growth. This is, therefore, an especially poor time to increase the cost of travel.”

“Respectfully, it is definitely not the time to impose outsized increases in the fee burden for new and repeat travelers which are the groups most affected by the proposed fee increases… Increases of the amounts proposed will place the government at cross-purposes with itself, working, on the one hand, to stimulate business and support the special needs of small businesses for capital and cash flow and, on the other hand, de-stimulating travel by adding costs to the essential instruments of international movement.”

While you might think that foreign tourist establishments are the group that will be most likely to take a hit once passport fees increase, ASTA President and Chair Chris Russo also noted that in reality, U.S.-owned airlines, tour operators, hotel chains and car rental are all harmed by a decline in the number of US citizens traveling internationally.

So, will the ASTA/ISHTA’s entreaties be enough to keep passport fees from going up? At this point, it’s too early to tell. If you need a new passport or your existing passport needs to be renewed, best do it now, before the price goes up.

RushMyPassport.com can make applying for a passport much faster and easier. We’ll walk you through the paperwork, and then submit by hand to the Department of State, for processing times as low as 24 hours!

Apply for your new passport today!

The debate over the State Department’s proposed fee hike for passport services continues, with lawmakers and State Department officials arguing back and forth about whether the new fees are justified, especially given the current state of the economy.

The LA Times notes that if the increases happen, the passport application fee will be more than double what it was in 2002.  New York Representative Chris Lee notes that the increase may not seem like that much for an individual to pay,  but would have a big impact on families, with a family of four paying around $500 just to apply for passports. The LA Times also interviewed Representative Brian Higgins, who did not mince words-he called the increase flat-out “immoral.”

In the articleBrenda Sprague, deputy assistant secretary of State for passport affairs, claims that the price hike is justified:

“We have a strong, defensible position for increasing the fees.” Costs have been rising, she said, as high-tech features make passports more expensive to produce and the department adds facilities to meet growing demand. By 2011, she said, the department expects to be operating 28 passport facilities, up from 13 just five years ago.

Other factors that were taken into account were the costs of providing services to US passport holders, including extending a helping hand to Americans who get in a jam overseas.

What do you think? Considering the services that the State Department provides passport holders, is it worth it to charge extra passport fees and to start adding charges for passport services that used to be free, like adding visa pages?

Whatever your opinion is, let us know in the comments and then go tell the US Department of State before the comment period is up on March 11th.

After the comment period ends, the new prices will probably be in place within weeks. We’ll keep an eye on the story and provide updates as it develops, but in the meantime, if you don’t want to pay the extra fees, you’d probably best go ahead and apply for passport services now.

If you think it’s expensive to get a passport now, just wait…earlier this month, the Department of State filed a proposal in the Federal Register to significantly increase passport fees to help pay for the services it provides. If you don’t want to pay the increased costs, you’d better apply for a passport, quick!

Here are the proposed changes, according to the LA Times:

Currently, it costs an adult $100 to apply for a new passport and $75 to renew a passport by mail. For a child under the age of 16, it costs $85. Under the Department of State’s proposal, a new adult passport would cost $135, while an adult passport renewal would cost $110. A child passport would cost $105.

Even more striking, the Department of State plans to begin charging to add visa pages to the back of passports. Currently, this service is performed free of charge, but under the proposal it would cost a whopping $82!

The new fee structure is not set in stone yet, but according to the LA Times the Department of State plans to move as fast as possible to begin charging the fees after the 3o-day public comment period is over.

Lawmakers in border states, like New York, are protesting the proposed increase because they depend heavily on tourism.  For example, WMBW.com quotes New York Congressman Chris Lee:

“These costs are too high. It’s going to further dampen our ability to increase traffic across our border. In just the past year alone, the tour bus traffic is down by more than 10 percent because the government imposed their new restrictions on the border that requires a passport.”

Concerned about passport cost increases?  The proposal is open for public comment until March 8th or 9th.

If you need to renew your passport, get a new one or just add some pages to the back, it seems like a good idea to apply for your new passport quick, before the price goes up. If you can get your passport before the increase goes into effect, it will be good for 10 years.

RushMyPassport can help you through the application process, providing easy to follow instructions that make the process go more smoothly and help you avoid common mistakes that can delay your application. And if you need your passport in a hurry, we offer processing times as low as 24 hours.

Don’t wait-Apply for your passport, quick, today!

One of the most common questions people have when they’re obtaining a passport is “How much is this going to cost me?”

Passport prices vary, depending on the circumstances. Here’s a quick breakdown of current government fees: (more…)