Passports| Travel

Traveling abroad can be an overwhelming experience. Please note that travel outside of the United States or its territories generally requires a passport. Additional assistance with obtaining your passport and traveling abroad may be available through my St. Louis office.

Passports

My office is pleased to assist constituents with their passport needs. For those who require a passport for the first time or need to replace or renew their passport, the following information is useful.

Passports are processed in approximately 6 weeks. If your departure date is less than 6 weeks you will need your application expedited. Expedited passports are usually processed within 3 weeks. The Passport Service requires an additional $60 fee for the expedited passport. Applicants requiring expedited handling should request overnight mail delivery to ensure receipt of the passport. If you are travelling overseas within two weeks and require additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact my St. Louis office.

If you are traveling abroad, you will probably need a passport book. The passport book is appropreate for most international travel. The passport card is available for those who are only traveling between the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda. It is intended primarily for those who are residents of border communities.

Detailed passport fee information can be found on the State Department website.

New Passports

New Passport books require a completed DS-11 form (brown application), a $135 application and execution fee (check or money order made payable to Passport Services), two identical passport photos (please read the application instructions regarding required size), and proof of citizenship (a certified copy of a birth certificate, naturalization document or expired passport). If a certified copy of a birth certificate is not available, the passport agency requires a letter from Vital Statistics stating that there is no record of the birth and provide either of the following: an affidavit of birth, a baptismal certificate, a hospital certificate, early school records, or a census report. Applications for new passports will not be processed unless they are witnessed by an authorized agent and sealed in a brown envelope.

Lost or Stolen Passports

Lost or Stolen Passports require the same steps as a new passport and a DS-64 form (gray form).

Passport Renewal Applications

Passport Renewal Applications require a completed DS-82 form (white form with pink lettering), a $110 application fee (check or money order made payable to Passport Services), two identical passport photos, and the expired passport. To apply for a renewal, the applicant must have been 18 years old when the passport was issued and the expired passport must have been issued within the last 12 years. Renewal applications should be mailed to:

National Passport Center
P.O. Box 371971
Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7971

If the passport is expedited, an additional $60 fee is required. Again, it is strongly recommended that the applicant pay for overnight mail delivery.

Additional Resources

Additional Resources are available through the U.S. Department of State Passport Services, including answers to frequently asked questions regarding passports.

Travel Warnings

Before you travel abroad, please check to see if the State Department has issued travel warnings for the country you intend to visit. The State Department's website also provides contacts for U.S. embassies and consulates throughout the world.

The Centers for Disease Control offers advice on vaccine requirements, disease outbreaks, food and water precautions, and health recommendations in certain geographic areas.

Other sources that offer important information about traveling abroad include the Central Intelligence Agency Fact Book and U.S. State Department Travel publications, which provide Americans with information they should know before traveling abroad.