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Your suitcase can be your best or worst travel companion. Pack it right and it will be no trouble. Do it wrong and you’ll end up with extra charges at the airport, the wrong wardrobe, and sore muscles from all the heavy lifting.

Before You Go

Expedited Service

It normally takes 25 business days from receipt of the complete application by a passport agency to return your passport. If you wish or need to receive your passport sooner, you may request expedited service for processing of the passport within 3 business days from receipt of the application by a passport agency. The fee for expedited service is $35.00 per application, which is in addition to the regular passport fee.

If you request expedited service, your departure date should be clearly shown on the application. Anyone who pays the $35.00 expedite fee and submits a complete application will be given expedited service.

If you plan to travel in more than two weeks, but need a passport urgently, it is strongly recommended that you arrange for two-way overnight delivery of the passport to prevent delays. If you are leaving within two weeks, it is recommended that you go to the nearest passport agency to apply.

For additional details, you may check with the National Passport Information Center.

If you plan to travel abroad frequently or if you stay overseas for long periods of time, your relatives or associates in the United States should have valid passports as well. That way, if you were to become seriously ill or involved in some other emergency, they could travel without delay. Also, you should leave with them your passport number and the date and place of the passport's issuance.

Diplomatic and Official Passports

If you are being assigned abroad on U.S. government business and are eligible to apply by mail for a no-fee passport (no-fee regular passport, official passport, diplomatic passport), you must submit the mail-in application form, your authorization to apply for a no-fee passport, your previous passport, and two photographs to the Special Issuance Agency in Washington, D.C. for processing. The address is 1111 19th Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20522-1705.

Additional Visa Pages

Should you require additional visa pages before your passport expires, you can obtain them by submitting your passport to one of the passport agencies listed at the back of this pamphlet. If you travel frequently to countries requiring visas, you may request a 48-page passport at the time that you apply. There is no additional charge for extra pages or for a 48-page passport.

Change of Name

If you have changed your name, you will need to have your passport amended. Fill out Form DSP-19, Passport Amendment/Validation Application, which is available from any office that is authorized to accept passport applications. Submit the DSP-19 along with proof of the name change (a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or certified court order) to the nearest passport agency. There is no fee for this service, except if expedite service is requested.

An Altered or Mutilated Passport

If your U.S. passport is mutilated or altered in any way (other than changing the personal notification data), you may render it invalid, cause yourself much inconvenience, and expose yourself to possible prosecution under the law (Section 1543, Title 22 of the U.S. Code).

Mutilated or altered passports should be turned in to passport agents, authorized postal employees, or U.S. consular officers abroad.

Loss or Theft of a U.S. Passport

It is important that you safeguard your passport. Its loss could cause you unnecessary travel complications as well as significant expense.

If your passport is lost or stolen in the United States, you should apply for a new passport and complete Form DSP-64, Statement Regarding Lost or Stolen Passport, which is available at U.S. passport agencies.

If your passport is lost or stolen abroad, you should report the loss immediately to the local police and to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. If you can provide the consular officer with the information contained in your passport, it will facilitate issuance of a new passport. Therefore, it is a good idea to make two photocopies of the data page of your passport. Keep one copy separately from your passport to take with you on your trip, and leave the other copy with a relative or friend in the United States. It is also a good idea to carry two extra passport size photos with you.

Do You Have Other Questions About Passports?

Additional passport information may be obtained from the National Passport Information Center (NPIC). Callers can dial 1-900-225-5674* to receive passport applications or additional information about passport emergencies, applying for a U.S. passport, and to check on the status of a passport application. Automated information is available 24-hours/day, 7 days/week. Operators can be reached Monday-Friday, excluding Federal holidays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Services are provided in English, Spanish and by TDD (1-900-225-7778*).

* The cost per minute for 1-900 calls is $.35 for the automated system and $1.05 for live operators. This service also includes an optional number: 1-888-362-8668 (TDD 1-888-498-3648) for those calling with blocked 1-900 service. These calls require a credit card for payment of a flat rate of $4.95 per call.