1. Use the Online Passport Status System to check your application status if you applied by mail or in person. 
2. You may not be able to get a status update for 2 weeks after you apply or renew. During these weeks, your application and supporting documents are safely on their way to us. 
3. Receive automatic email updates on the status of your application by entering your email address after locating your pending application.

What Each Application Status Means

1. By Email: You will receive email updates about your application and completed passport.
2. MyTravelGov Account: Login to your account to check your application status.

What Each Application Status Means

You may also receive emails if we need more information from you to process your application, or if you save your application and do not finish it within 30 days.

Our Passport Status page is for applications by mail only and will not indicate the status of your online renewal application. If you check the status of your online passport on this page, you will see an update of "Not Available."

If you have waited over two weeks since the date we updated your application status to "Mailed" and you have not received your passport, contact the National Passport Information Center. Customer service representatives will help you complete a special form (known as the DS-86 form) which is a signed statement that you didn't receive your U.S. passport.

You have 90 days from the date your passport was issued to complete the DS-86 form. After 90 days, you must reapply and pay all fees.

If you applied in person or renewed by mail, contact the National Passport Information Center. You do not need to contact us if your address changed after you received your passport.

If you renewed online, login to your MyTravelGov account and click on "Manage Application" to change your mailing address. You can complete this change on your own up until the time that your application is approved. 

When completing your child's passport application, we recommend you add your name in the “In Care Of” part of the Mailing Address section on Form DS-11. 

Passports can be delivered only if your name is connected to your address. If you want to receive your passport at an address other than your own, or an address where you are not registered, the passport must be sent “In Care Of” someone else. 

You will see this update if we are experiencing temporary, technical issues with our Online Status Passport System. We recommend you check your status on another web browser or check again in several hours. 

Your status may be "Mailed" if you recently received a new passport in the last 180 days, and you are re-applying for a new passport. For example, you may need to re-apply for a new passport using Form DS-5504 if you need to Change or Correct Your Passport. It may take 2 weeks after the date you apply on Form DS-5504 for your status to change to "In Process." 

You may see this update if we discovered an error or problem we need to fix during our final quality control review of your passport. We are fixing the issue and preparing to print a new passport for you. 

You will likely receive multiple mailings depending on what document(s) you applied for:

Passport Book: You may receive your newly-issued passport and your citizenship documents (examples: previous passport or birth certificate) separately. You may wait 8 weeks after receiving your passport before you receive a second mailing with your citizenship documents. We will return the passport book using a trackable delivery service.

Passport Card: You may receive your newly-issued passport card and your citizenship documents (examples: previous passport or birth certificate) separately. You may wait 8 weeks after receiving your passport before you receive a second mailing with your citizenship documents. We only send the passport card via First Class Mail. We do not send cards using 1-2 day delivery services.

Both a Passport Book and Card: You may receive three separate mailings; one with your citizenship documents (examples: previous passport or birth certificate), one with your newly-issued passport book, and one with your newly-issued passport card. You may wait 8 weeks after receiving your passport book before you receive a second and third mailing with your passport card and citizenship documents.

It may take 8 weeks after you receive your new passport for your supporting documents (e.g. birth certificate or previous passport) to arrive. If you have been waiting more than 8 weeks, contact the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778 to report that you have not received your documents. 

Applying in Person or Renewing by Mail

The first two digits of your nine-digit passport application locator number allow you to know which agency or center is working on your application. You can find your application locator number by checking our Online Passport Status System. The unique digits for each of our agencies and centers are below.

Renewing Online

All online passport renewal applications begin with "95." You will not be able to use the locator number to determine which agency is working on your application. Go to our Renew Online page to learn more about how to submit your application, check its status, and contact us.