The application process requires that an applicant appear in person at a passport center with all the relevant documents and a means of paying the fees. The documents should be filled out, but they must not be signed until presented at the center. The documents include the State Department Form DS-11; proof of US citizenship (the most common is a certified birth certificate); valid identification (driver's license); and two passport photos. For those 16 and older, in 2009 the total fee was $100. The passport center will accept checks, money orders, and credit and debit cards, but not cash.
Passports are valid for 10 years from the date of issue. To renew them, the old passport plus form DS-82 must be submitted to the US Department of State by mail. If the person needing renewal is abroad, the passport should instead be taken or sent to the nearest US Embassy. In 2009, the fee was $75.
Sometimes passports are lost, damaged, or stolen. This can be reported by phone by calling (877) 487-2778, or by filling out and submitting the DS-64 form by mail and returning it to the US Department of State. Replacement requires submitting DS-11 and DS-64 in person either at a passport center or a US Embassy. In 2009, the fee was $75.
Frequent travelers will find that their passport's pages will quickly become filled, especially if they accumulate a lot of the visas that occupy an entire page. This can be done either by submitting the passport and form DS-4085 to the US Department of State by mail, or by appearing in person at a US Embassy and requesting the extra pages. In both cases there needs to be less than four completely unused pages remaining before the extra pages will be issued.
Typos in a passport can be corrected for free and at any time by submitting the passport with form DS-5504. Name changes made within one year of the passport's issue can also be made the same way. Name changes for a passport older than one year require the applicant to follow the procedure for passport renewal.
While according to American law, a passport is valid until it expires, most countries around the world only accept passports that have at least six months of validity remaining. If a passport is reaching the six months remaining mark, it should be renewed.
