Passport fee increases are as follows:
— Passport book for adult, increases from $75 to $110.
— Passport book for a minor (under 16) , increases from $60 to $80.
— Passport card, only used for crossing the U.S. border over land, for an adult, increases from $20 to $30.
— Passport card for a minor, increases from $10 to $15.

A new fee of $82 for adding more visa pages to a valid passport book is being imposed. Currently there has been no fee. Such pages are added by frequent travelers who obtain the standard 28-page passport book and need additional pages added to their valid passport for future trips requiring visas. However, when renewing or getting a new passport, applicants can request the larger book with 52 pages at no extra cost.

People with passport books expected to expire soon can renew at the lower rates by submitting their application by July 12th. NAPVS members are available to help citizens submit their renewal or new passport applications before the new fee increases take effect.

While the new fees will go into effect July 13th, the State Department has issued an interim final rule that allows for further comments to be submitted on or before August 27th.

Full details on all fee increases can be found at http://www.travel.state.gov/news/news_5078.html.

Click on our site’s Get a Passport & Visa for a list of companies who can help secure an expedited passport.

These new fees are being set to enable the Department to recover its processing
costs. Here is a quick summary of the new fees.

First Time Passport Book for Adult – Increasing from $100 to $135.
Renewal Passport Book for Adult – Increasing from $75 to $110
Passport Book for Minors – Increases from $60 to $105.
Additional Passport Visa Pages – From no charge to $82.
Passport Card for Adult – From $20 to $30
Passport Card for Minors – From $10 to $15

In its notice, the State Department explained that passport card fees were less than the full costs to issue in order to make the cards more affordable for citizens living in the border states and who need to make regular land border crossings. The new fees for the passport book for minors are also less because this book is valid for only 5 years, instead of the 10 years for the adult book.

The notice stated the extra fee for adult passport books is designed to make up for the lower fee of the minors book. Further, the notice said the lower card fees, in relation to the actual cost of $77.59, reflects the goal of keeping the card low cost for the convenience of citizens living near the border.

NAPVS submitted comments on this fee proposal and supported the State Department’s goal of fully recovering its costs in issuing passports. However, NAPVS made a few suggestions to help keep costs down for frequent travelers.

First, because now for the first time there is a fee for adding extra pages to a passport, and a hefty one at $82, NAPVS requested that the State Department web site prominently inform visitors at the time of renewal or first time application that a jumbo passport book with extra pages already added can be purchased instead of the regular passport book.

Second, that some frequent travelers and pilots have the need for possessing a second passport book in order to be able to travel abroad while getting visas for an upcoming trip. Since such a passport only has a 2 year life, NAPVS suggests fees should be less than the ten-year book.

The State Department intends to implement these new fees as soon as practicable within the administrative requirements for finalizing its proposal. NAPVS did suggest that the new fees not go into affect no less than 30 days from the date these new fees become official to give travel companies and its customers sufficient time to smoothly adopt the new fee structure.

New fees are likely sometime this Spring. NAPVS and its members will have the latest information on these new fees, so check back at this web site for up to date U.S. passport fee information.

Thus starting June 1, 2009 American citizens traveling by car into and from Canada or Mexico to the U.S. must present a passport book or car. Some border states are providing an enhanced driver’s license that will verify U.S. citizenship as well when crossing the border by land.

However, any American citizen traveling overseas by air must present a passport book to show proof of identity and citizenship.

U.S. citizen children under the age of 16 are able to present the original or copy of their birth certificate, or other proof of U.S. citizenship such as a naturalization certificate or citizenship card.

Groups of U.S. citizen children ages 16 through 18, when traveling with a school or religious group, social organization, or sports team, will be able to enter under adult supervision with originals or copies of their birth certificates or other proof of citizenship.

NAPVS members can assist citizens in obtaining a passport card at the same time they are renewing or obtaining a new passport book. Citizens are finding the passport card a convenient and authoritative identity document to have with them at all times.

For more details on travel documents required for traveling abroad, go to the State Department web site at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html.

To get an expedited passport book and card from an NAPVS member, go to Get A U.S. Passport and Visa.

WASHINGTON — Federal officials hope a new education campaign will eliminate confusion at U.S. borders this summer when Americans will be required for the first time to show a passport or a special ID card to drive home from Canada or Mexico.

Travelers will no longer be able to use ordinary driver’s licenses or birth certificates to get back into the U.S.

Go to the following address for full story:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-30-passports_N.htm

Fees are being adjusted to cover the cost of providing efficient and secure passport services including infrastructure, technology and staff. The Passport Execution fee collected by passport acceptance centers and U.S. consular sections abroad is being reduced from $30 to $25. Go to the State Department web site for more details.

In a colloquy on the Senate floor, Senator Gregg, Chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, states, “I wish to emphasize that the Departments of Homeland Security and State can move forward with the full implementation of WHTI before June I, 2009–but to do so they must comply with all legislated criteria. These legislated criteria are designed to ensure that the PASS Card protects the privacy of our citizens, that readers have been installed at all ports of entry, that all employees have been properly trained–in short, that the system works, before it is used by millions of citizens. And I emphasize that implementation, meaning putting the system into operation can occur at any time but no later than June 1, 2009.”

NAPVS firms are listed as an option for obtaining passport services in an expedited fashion. Specifically, the article states,
“There are also private rush services that specialize in speeding customers through the bureaucracy. For varying fees, these companies can often get passports approved in as little as 24 hours. (A list of expediting services is at www.napvs.org.) But in recent years, some passport agencies have been reducing the number of daily submissions such rush companies are allowed. The New York regional passport agency used to allow them to submit applications in unlimited numbers; in February it limited each company to 20 or fewer a day.”

For the complete article go to
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/travel/01prac.html?_r=1&ref=travel&oref=slogin You may need to register with nytimes.com before you can access the article.