You are considered a first-time applicant if you can answer "yes" to any of the following statements.

• You are applying for a US passport for the first time OR
• Your previous US passport has a validity of less than 10 years OR 
• Your previous US passport was issued 15 years ago or more OR 
• Your previous US passport was issued when you were under 16, and you are now over 16.

You can apply for a passport renewal if you answer "yes" to all of the following statements: 

• I can submit my most recent, undamaged passport; and
• My most recent passport was issued with a validity of 10 years; and
• My most recent passport has been expired for less than 5 years (or is unexpired); and
• I was at least 16 years old when my most recent passport was issued; and
• I use the same name as on my most recent passport, or since my passport was issued, I have had my name changed by marriage or court order and can submit proper original documentation to reflect my name-change.

All children under the age of 16 must follow the instructions for Child Passport, including any of the following:

• I am a child applying for a US passport for the first time.
• I am a child whose previous US passport has expired or is about to expire.
• I am child whose previous US passport has been lost or stolen.
• I am a child whose name has been changed through court order from the time my last US passport was issued.  

For applicants ages 16 and over, follow this process if you are unable to submit the most recent passport that was issued to you because it has been lost or stolen, or if your most recent passport has been damaged. Follow this process even if your lost, stolen, or damaged passport has expired. 

This process is for adding visa pages to your valid, 5-year child or 10-year adult passport. 

Select this process if you can answer YES to all of the following:

• Your name has been legally changed due to marriage or a court order; and
• Your most recent passport was issued within the last 15 years; and 
• Your most recent passport is in your possession and is undamaged.

Select this process if you currently have a valid, 10-year US passport and need to apply for a second one for security or other reasons.

You can extend the validity of your passport if:

• You still have the limited (1-year) passport in your possession, and it is not damaged; and
• You can provide the citizenship documents and/or proof of identity that were missing the time you were issued the limited passport; and
• Your limited passport was issued less than 1 year ago, and it is extendable. (*A non-extendable passport will read "this passport is not extendable" on one of the amendment pages.)
• If your limited passport was issued more than one year ago, and/or it has expired, please follow the steps for New Passport/First Time Passport.  When filling out your DS-11 form, provide the passport information of the last 10-year passport that you were issued for "Passport Information." You must turn in both your 10-year passport and your limited passport with your application. (Or a DS-64 form if your 10-year passport was lost/stolen.) 

If you answer "no" to any of the above questions, please click on Passport Services for more passport options.