In April, the U.S. State Department announced that it would roll out limited-edition passports with President Donald Trump’s portrait on the inside cover. Almost immediately, the Reddit-verse blew up with questions about whether the new design would automatically be on all new and renewed U.S. passports.
According to CNN, a State Department official said the passport “will be the default passport out of the Washington Passport Agency when available” for people who apply for new passports at the location on 19th Street NW in the nation’s capital.
And while the exact rollout date has yet to be announced, the new passport’s release is being tied to the United States’ semiquincentennial celebrations, happening this July.
“As the United States celebrates America’s 250th anniversary in July, the State Department is preparing to release a limited number of specially designed U.S. passports to commemorate this historic occasion,” confirmed State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott in an email statement to Afar on May 5.
If you have a passport due for renewal soon or are a first-time U.S. passport applicant (or applying for a child’s passport for the first time), you may have questions. Here are some answers.
Will I be required to get a Trump passport if I have to get a new passport or renew?
The short answer is no. If you’re applying in person anywhere other than Washington, D.C., you won’t receive a passport with Trump’s portrait inside.
While the commemorative passport will be the default for people applying in person at the Washington Passport Agency office, according to NPR, most U.S. passport renewals must be done online; therefore, most people will skip the in-person office visit in Washington required to receive the Trump limited-edition passport.
“Regardless of your political affiliation, your chance of getting a limited-edition passport featuring our current president is lower if you are located outside Washington, D.C., and even then, it is offered ‘when available,’ according to the State Department,” Katy Nastro, spokesperson for the travel app Going, told Afar in an email. “Above all else, let this be a reminder to check your passport book often to see when you’re due for a new one.”
Just how limited are these limited-edition passports?
NPR reported that the passports emblazoned with Trump’s likeness will mark the first time that a living president has been commemorated in the coveted travel document. In the new passports, Trump’s image—he’s depicted from the shoulders up, in a coat and tie—appears printed over text from the Declaration of Independence. His image is surrounded by stars-and-stripes motifs, with his signature in gold beneath. A separate page in the new passport design includes an image of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence.
Initially, between 25,000 and 30,000 of the new passports will be available—a mere fraction of the more than 160 million U.S. passports said to be in circulation worldwide as of 2023.
“The new designs will be available for any American citizen who applies for a passport when the rollout happens and will continue for as long as there is availability,” said Pigott, adding that there is no extra fee for the limited-edition passport.
How and where can I get a standard passport?
For first-time U.S. passport holders, including adults and children—or if your previous passport was issued before the age of 16 (or if you’re 16 or 17 and applying for the first time, among other considerations)—fill out a DS-11 form and bring it to a designated passport acceptance facility. Those locations include places like libraries and clerk of court offices, depending on where you live.
People who need to renew their passports can apply online for renewal, which is the norm, through the U.S. Department of State’s official website. Don’t forget that some countries won’t allow you to board a flight to that country if you don’t have at least three to six months before your current passport expires.
Excluding people with international travel plans in the next 14 days (or with life or death emergencies), all passport renewals—which can be submitted within a year of your current passport’s expiration date—must be applied for online. Same-day renewal service is available for in-person passport renewals for applicable cases like those mentioned above, and appointments can be made online and require appearing in person at a passport office.
According to the FAQ section on the State Department’s website, it can take two weeks from the day you apply for passport renewal by mail until your application is marked “in progress.”
Current processing times for renewing passports by mail are four to six weeks for routine service and two to three weeks for expedited service, which costs an additional $60 on top of the standard application fee of $130 (plus an extra $22.05 for one- to three-day return delivery by mail).
