There have been a slew of passport-centric updates these past few weeks, the most most significant of which was President Biden’s announcement that passport renewal applications will soon become available online. Following the 12 and 18-week wait times we’ve become habituated to thanks to the pandemic, the prospect of digital applications is nothing short of revolutionary.
That said, the year is 2021 and if there’s anything that I know to be true, it’s that even when things seem kind of good … they’re still mostly bad. Case in point: It was just announced that passport fees are set to increase at the end of this month.
Per a report from CNN, U.S. passports are the latest thing to fall victim to the recent “scourge of inflation,” and on December 27, the fees to apply for a new one will increase by 18% (or $20).
The reason? According to a tweet from the State Department, “The increased fee is necessary to ensure we continue to produce one of the most secure travel and identity documents in the world.” That’s it. That’s literally the tweet.
While there are a handful of variables that inevitably impact the cost of having a passport renewed, the current fee to renew an adult passport by mail is $110. Basic math tells us the new cost will now amount to $130. Of course it’s really about principle, but the silver lining — if there is one — is this: that $20 goes toward a document with a 10-year expiry.
Should you be curious to see exactly how much your next passport will run you, you can use the State Department fee calculator or check out this PDF chart of passport fees, which breaks things down a little further.
Merry Christmas.
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