U.S. adult passport renewal by mail: eligibility and packet

For an applicant age 18 or older, applying from a U.S. state, with an ordinary ten-year passport, before submitting a renewal. This is a source-based preparation procedure. Applications abroad, special/limited-validity passports and already-pending applications need their own instructions.

Choose the route

Check State's mail-renewal requirements, section Confirm you meet the requirements, against the actual passport:

• You can submit the most recent passport; it has never been reported lost or stolen. Finding a previously reported passport does not restore eligibility.
• It was issued at age 16 or older, was valid for ten years, and meets the issue-date window. The current DS-82, Section A says less than 15 years ago; the web page says within the last 15 years. At the fifteenth-anniversary boundary, resolve that wording with State before mailing. If the issue date or a required fact is unknown, eligibility is not yet established.
• It is undamaged apart from normal wear, and is in your current name or you can supply qualifying legal name-change evidence.

If an ordinary renewal requirement fails, use State's adult application route. For a limited-validity passport, check its endorsement/issuer letter and the specific replacement instructions; do not infer that every short-validity passport is barred from mail replacement.

Mail eligibility is separate from online eligibility, which includes age 25+, no personal-information change, routine service and no travel for at least six weeks. Failing an online condition alone does not rule out mail renewal. Check current processing and mailing times against departure; if travel is in less than three weeks, follow State's agency-appointment instructions before choosing mail.

Prepare and send

1. Use the current official form instructions. Print DS-82 single-sided on letter paper in portrait orientation, complete both application pages, and sign and date Application Page 1 before mailing. The Form Filler prepares a form; it does not submit an application.
2. Include the most recent passport product(s) required for your request. Check the current mail-page product table and DS-82 Section D: the table maps documents to the request, while the form also instructs you to submit any valid passport product you have. If this changes which book/card you would include, confirm with State before mailing. Include certified legal name-change evidence when applicable and follow Sections C–D for your circumstances.
3. Include one recent printed passport photo, less than six months old, and staple it as shown in DS-82 Section D/photo template. The unsigned-form/unattached-photo practice for a first-time acceptance visit does not apply here.
4. Check renewal fees and payment methods. Current base fees are $130 for a book, $30 for a card, or $160 for both, before optional services. Mail a personal, certified, cashier’s or traveler’s check, or money order, payable to the U.S. Department of State; there is no $35 acceptance fee for DS-82. Choose the product for the trip: a passport card cannot be used for international air travel.
5. Select the current address under Submit your completed application and documents on the mail-renewal page using your state and routine/expedited service. For expedited service, follow the current instruction to write EXPEDITE on the envelope. Send through USPS using a trackable service; keep the tracking record privately.

Evidence and refresh: official sources checked October 4, 2026; mail page updated October 1 and DS-82 dated April 2025. No applicant documents, mailing, payment, appointment or issuance observed. A different same-operator agent checked the claims and walked through 18 synthetic decision cases; that is internal quality control, not independent certification or an observed application. Recheck before use or after a form, eligibility, fee, address or travel-date change; next editorial check October 11, 2026.

Feedback: identify the unclear step, state/service route, date and public source or actual result. Keep passport numbers, dates of birth, scans and tracking identifiers private.