The execution fee for United States passports will increase by 40 percent — from $25.00 to $35.00 — effective as of Monday, April 2, 2018; but this increase will likely not affect you…
Why the United States Passport Fee Increase May Not Affect You
…if you are eligible to renew your passport via postal mail when using the DS-82 form, as you can mail your application and supporting documentation to the Department of State of the United States and should not apply at a passport acceptance facility or pay an execution fee.
Only people using the DS-11 form to apply for a United States passport will be affected by the increase — such as people who are:
- Older than 16 years of age who apply for a passport for the first time
- Younger than 16 years of age
- Applying for a passport again after reporting their previous passport as lost or stolen
Reason For the Execution Fee Increase
“The Department of State generally sets consular fees at an amount calculated to achieve recovery of the costs to the U.S. government of providing the consular service”, according to this official notice from the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Department of State of the United States. “The latest Cost of Service Model showed that the costs associated with passport execution were higher than the current fee of $25.”
The proposed fee change was in the works for at least 15 months, as it was published in the Federal Register as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and public comments were accepted until Friday, November 18, 2016, which was 60 days after the publication of the notice.
Summary
If you are indeed one of the people who is potentially affected by the increase of ten dollars for the execution fee of a United States passport, the obvious solution is to apply for your passport prior to Monday, April 2, 2018, if you are qualified and able to do so.
“Customers applying with the DS-11 form pay two separate fees: an application fee to the U.S. Department of State and the execution fee to the passport acceptance facility”, according to the aforementioned official notice. “Passport acceptance facilities such as post offices, clerks of court, or public libraries are designated to accept passport applications on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. With more than 7,600 acceptance facility locations, customers applying for the first time can find a convenient location to apply for their passport. Some acceptance facilities are open nights and weekends and take passport photos on-site.”
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
