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Passport for Travel to North Korea

Learn how to request special permission for travel to North Korea when applying for a passport.

U.S. passports are not valid for travel to, in, or through North Korea. The country is also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK.

  • We may grant you an exception to travel if you qualify. We will issue you a passport with a special validation.
  • Most special validations let you make 1 round trip to the DPRK in the next 365 days.
  • In certain cases, we may approve you for multiple trips to the DPRK for a 2-year period if you have a well-established travel history to the DPRK and your documents show that you must make multiple trips.
  • We only issue special validations on a limited basis. 

If you do not have a special validation on your passport and travel to, in, or through North Korea, we may revoke your passport or you may be prosecuted for a felony. 

Special validation passport eligibility

We will only issue a special validation passport if your trip is in the national interest. You must also meet all other requirements for a passport. 

Your trip might be in the national interest if:

  • You are a professional journalist and the purpose of your trip is to make information about the DPRK available to the public.
  • You are a representative of the Red Cross traveling on an official Red Cross mission to the DPRK.
  • You are traveling for compelling humanitarian considerations.
  • It is otherwise in the national interest. 

If you want to travel to visit relatives in the DPRK, we will give humanitarian consideration to your request case-by-case.

Steps to request a special validation and apply for a passport

  1. For a single-entry special validation passport, please provide:

    • Your full name

    • Current contact information including phone number, mailing address, and email address

    • Copy of valid, government-issued photo ID that includes your signature and date of birth. Examples include:

      • Current U.S. passport book or card
      • Driver's license, not a temporary license or learner's permit
        • Front-and-back copy of the license
      • Naturalization certificate
      • Military identification
      • Federal, state, or municipal government employee identification card

    • Statement explaining the reason your trip is in the national interest or why you are eligible for a special validation passport.

      • Include proposed travel dates and your role on the trip. 

      • In group requests, each traveler must provide this statement.

    • Documents to support your request, such as a letter from the organization sponsoring your trip(s).

    For a multiple-entry special validation passport, you must submit all of the materials above and:

    • Documents showing you or your organization has a well-established history of traveling to the DPRK,

    • Your draft itinerary, including proposed dates of travel and work you will do on each trip, and

    • Documents showing your national interest work requires that you make multiple trips to the DPRK in the next 2-year period.

       

  2. Email the required information to PPTSpecialValidations@state.gov or send by mail to:

    ATTN: Special Validations
    Office of Adjudication, Passport Services, U.S. Department of State
    44132 Mercure Circle, P.O. Box 1243
    Sterling, VA 20166-1243

  3. After you submit your request, we will let you know if we approve or deny your request. If we deny your request, we will not review this decision further. If approved, we will send you a letter or email certifying your eligibility for travel to the DPRK.

    • You must submit the eligibility letter or email with your application for a special validation passport. 
    • If you are approved for multiple entries to the DPRK, you must send a final itinerary detailing dates and purpose of travel at least 5 days before each trip. Email these documents to EAP-KM-DPRK-UNIT@state.gov or send them by mail to:

    ATTN: Rm. 4206 EAP/KM/DPRK
    U.S. Department of State
    Harry S. Truman Building
    2201 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20520

Paperwork Reduction Act Information

OMB Control Number #1405-0228
Expiration Date 04/30/2029

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Last Updated: March 20, 2026

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