US Passports Are About To Cost You More with New Fee Increase

For people that have or want to apply for a US passport, prepare to spend a little more starting next week. The US State Department has announced there is a new US passport fee increase coming.

US Passport Fee Increase

I may have missed an earlier announcement that this was coming so if I did, let me know! But, if not, I find it kind of strange that I received word from the US State Department just one week before the fee increase is set to go through. I would have thought that would have been something that would have had more notice but maybe they did not want a rush of people applying to beat the fee and overwhelm their processing centers even more?

At any rate, as of December 27, the fees for a US Passport will go up by $20. The State Department says this is to cover increased security costs pertaining to the issuing of passports. Given the timing and the fee, I wonder if this is meant to also help with being able to do more online tasks with passports? Certainly if you are moving stuff like passport systems online, there needs to be increased security protocols in place!

So, here is what you will pay for the various kinds of passport applications (this page will eventually be updated to show the new costs):

• Ages 16 and older applying for their first passport will pay $165 (instead of the current $145)
• Ages 16 and older applying for their first passport will pay $130 (instead of $110)
• For those under age 16, it will be $135 (instead of $115)

Here is what the US State Department says about this change:

Due to an increase in the security surcharge component of the passport application, the fee for obtaining a U.S. passport will increase by $20 effective December 27, 2021.  Plan accordingly if you will be applying for a U.S. passport after that date. 

The Department of State generally sets consular fees at an amount calculated to recover the costs to the U.S. government of providing the consular service.  This fee change reflects steady increases in passport security-related costs since the fee was last updated.