How to pay passport fees without getting the application returned
In person there are two payees and two payments. By mail there is one check, online and at agencies a card. Here is who receives what.
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2026 rules
What goes on each check
Check to “U.S. Department of State”
$130
| Acceptance facility (its own payment rules) | $35 |
| Total | $165 |
Write the applicant’s name and date of birth in the memo line.
A U.S. passport application filed in person on Form DS-11 needs two separate payments. The application fee, $130 for an adult book or $100 for a child's book, plus any expedite fee ($60), 1-3 day delivery ($26.87) or file search ($150), goes on a personal, certified, cashier's or traveler's check or a money order payable to “U.S. Department of State”, with the applicant's name and date of birth in the memo. The $35 execution fee is paid separately to the acceptance facility, which sets its own payment methods. A mailed renewal on Form DS-82 needs only the State Department check and no cash. Online renewals are paid by credit or debit card, and passport agencies take cards and contactless payment. The State Department keeps both the application and execution fees even if no passport is issued.
Two payees, because two people do the work
A first passport involves two separate services. The acceptance agent at a post office, clerk of court or library checks your identity, watches you sign Form DS-11, gives the oath and seals the envelope. The State Department then examines the evidence, prints and mails the passport. Each charges for its own part, which is why the fee page says plainly that applying in person means two fees to two places. The calculator above prints the State Department check and the facility payment on separate lines, which is the form you need at the counter.
For a first adult book, the check to the State Department is $130 and the facility collects $35. For a child it is $100 and $35. If you add expedited service and 1-3 day delivery to an adult book, only the State Department amount changes, to $216.87; the facility still receives $35.
Writing the State Department check
The payee line reads “U.S. Department of State”. The fee page accepts a personal, certified, cashier's or traveler's check, or a money order. Cash is not listed for this payment, and the mail renewal page says outright not to send cash. In the memo, write the applicant's name and date of birth; for a child, write the child's details, not the parent's. If the amount includes cents, because you added return delivery at $26.87, write the cents: the chart amount is exact and is not rounded.
| What you are paying for | Amount on the State Department check | Separate facility payment |
|---|---|---|
| Adult book, first time | $130 | $35 |
| Adult book, expedited + 1-3 day delivery | $216.87 | $35 |
| Child book, under 16 | $100 | $35 |
| Adult renewal by mail, book | $130 | none |
Paying the acceptance facility
The execution fee is the facility's money, so the facility decides how to take it. Many post offices accept cards or money orders for their portion, some county offices take only checks, and a library may prefer exact cash. The State Department does not set this rule and tells applicants to find out from the facility in advance. If you book an appointment, ask then. Ask the facility which payment it accepts before you go.
If you want the facility to send your application faster, it can sell you USPS Priority Mail Express for the trip to the State Department. That is a third, optional payment to the facility, and its price varies by location. Do not confuse it with the $26.87 return delivery, which goes on the State Department check because the State Department ships the finished passport.
One check for several people
Families applying together often wonder whether they need four checks. For children, the child application page says the State Department prefers a separate check per child but will accept one check for a family, with each name, each date of birth and the number of applications in the memo. Two adults and two children applying for books together would write $460 to the State Department and pay the facility $140. Mailed renewals packed in the same envelope can share a check too. The family calculator in the family cost guide adds those totals for you.
Passport cost for the whole family
Total for the family
$565
| Check(s) handed in at the facility | $330 |
| Facility fees | $105 |
| Check mailed with the DS-82s | $130 |
One check may cover several applications if the memo lists every name and date of birth.
Renewing by mail, online or at an agency
A DS-82 renewal has no acceptance agent, so it has no execution fee and no second payment. One check or money order payable to the U.S. Department of State goes in the envelope with the old passport and photo. Renewals mailed from Canada must also be in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank. Postal workers should not charge you the facility fee or review a renewal; if one tries, the mail renewal page backs you up.
Online renewal replaces the check with a credit or debit card entered on the official form at opr.travel.state.gov. At one of the 26 passport agencies and centers, the fee page lists Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover credit cards, Visa or Mastercard debit and prepaid cards, and contactless wallets. Agency applications always carry the $60 expedite fee, so a first adult book there costs $225.
Mistakes that send applications back
The fee chart warns that incorrect fees can delay processing, and most of the errors are predictable. A single check covering the execution fee as well, which the facility then cannot cash. A total based on an older chart, often the old delivery fee. The expedite fee left off while the envelope says “EXPEDITE”. A check signed but left without a payee, or dated in a way the bank refuses. A memo with the parent's name on a child's application. Each of these can turn a four-week wait into a letter and another round trip by mail. Before you seal the envelope, compare your total with the calculator, which reads the October 2026 chart.
Refunds, and what is not refundable
By law the State Department keeps the application fee and the execution fee even when it does not issue a passport, for example when the evidence of citizenship is not accepted. The only routine refund is the expedite fee, when expedited service was not delivered on time; the refund guide counts the business days. Fees paid to private couriers are never refunded by the State Department. Keep a photocopy of both checks or the receipts: if a payment goes missing, they are the only proof of what you paid and to whom.