Get Your Passport Before Fees Go Up
If you need a new passport or you haven’t renewed it for a long time, now is the time. The fee increase will take effect from April.
The US State Department has announced an increase in passport “processing fees” from $ 25 to $ 35 for new passports and long-overdue renewals (which are essentially new passports). The extra $ 10 might not sound like a lot, but if you add it to the total cost of getting a new passport – now $ 135 and soon to be $ 145 – every dollar counts. Also, if you need to do it anyway, you can use this warning as additional motivation to do it sooner rather than later. Remember , it takes four to six weeks to apply and get your passport (two to three weeks if you pay extra to speed up the process).
It is important to note that this increase in commission does not affect passport renewal if:
- You received a valid passport after you turned 16.
- Your previous passport has not been lost, stolen, or damaged.
- Less than 15 years have passed since you were last issued a passport.
- You have not changed your name (or you can document your name change by attaching an original or certified copy of your marriage certificate, divorce order, or court order).
Regular passport renewals by mail will still cost $ 110, as before. But even if this new fee doesn’t affect you, use this as a reminder to check your passport expiration date to be sure.