U.S. Passport Fee Increase and Rules for Minors

Starting today, passports for U.S. citizens will be a little more costly. Most frequent travelers already have passports, of course, but you may be interested to learn the renewal fee is going up as well.

Here are the new rates:

• Passport Renewal: $75
• New Passport (ages 16 and over): $100
• New Passport (ages 15 and under): $85

For those of you with children, the new rules are really a pain. As of today, applicants who are U.S. citizen under the age of 16 must appear personally with their parents to establish identity, proof of citizenship and proof of relationship. I can see a lot of potential problems with this. So if a person wants to take a vacation to the Bahamas with child in tow, they’ll apparently have to drag their kid to the post office to get a passport. And it can’t be just one parent. BOTH parents must appear together and sign, or one parent may appear to sign and submit the other parent’s notarized statement, or one parent may appear, sign, and submit primary evidence of sole authority. What an incredible nuisance. Minors age 16 and 17 may apply in person with their own identification, but parental consent may be required.

The good news is that you don’t have to go to an actual passport agency, which is what I originally though. There are thousands of locations around the country where you can do the deed, most of them being Post Offices or Courthouses. No matter where you live, you should be able to find an office within a reasonable distance. To find the facility nearest you, visit iafdb.travel.state.gov/ and enter your zip code.

In addition, those of you driving across the Mexican or Canadian border will now be required to provide a passport as well.

For more information and revised forms, visit www.travel.state.gov.