If you think it’s expensive to get a passport now, just wait…earlier this month, the Department of State filed a proposal in the Federal Register to significantly increase passport fees to help pay for the services it provides. If you don’t want to pay the increased costs, you’d better apply for a passport, quick!
Here are the proposed changes, according to the LA Times:
Currently, it costs an adult $100 to apply for a new passport and $75 to renew a passport by mail. For a child under the age of 16, it costs $85. Under the Department of State’s proposal, a new adult passport would cost $135, while an adult passport renewal would cost $110. A child passport would cost $105.
Even more striking, the Department of State plans to begin charging to add visa pages to the back of passports. Currently, this service is performed free of charge, but under the proposal it would cost a whopping $82!
The new fee structure is not set in stone yet, but according to the LA Times the Department of State plans to move as fast as possible to begin charging the fees after the 3o-day public comment period is over.
Lawmakers in border states, like New York, are protesting the proposed increase because they depend heavily on tourism. For example, WMBW.com quotes New York Congressman Chris Lee:
“These costs are too high. It’s going to further dampen our ability to increase traffic across our border. In just the past year alone, the tour bus traffic is down by more than 10 percent because the government imposed their new restrictions on the border that requires a passport.”
Concerned about passport cost increases? The proposal is open for public comment until March 8th or 9th.
If you need to renew your passport, get a new one or just add some pages to the back, it seems like a good idea to apply for your new passport quick, before the price goes up. If you can get your passport before the increase goes into effect, it will be good for 10 years.
RushMyPassport can help you through the application process, providing easy to follow instructions that make the process go more smoothly and help you avoid common mistakes that can delay your application. And if you need your passport in a hurry, we offer processing times as low as 24 hours.
Don’t wait-Apply for your passport, quick, today!