How to Check the Status of Your Passport Application

• Current passport processing times are 4-6 weeks for routine applications and 2-3 weeks for expedited applications. 
• You can easily check the status of your passport application online at passportstatus.state.gov. 
• Call the National Passport Information Center if you have concerns or if urgent travel plans come up and you need your passport sooner.

Picture this: Ahead of your next international vacation, you’ve taken your headshots, sent in your information, and applied for your new or renewed passport. You’ve done your due diligence, but now it’s in the government’s hands—and you have to wait. 

Luckily, there are various ways you can check the status of your passport application. Whether you want to check on things online or by phone, you’ll need your full name, date of birth, and the last four digits of your social security number. It’s also helpful to remember how long the process is supposed to take. 

Though these times have stretched longer occasionally since the COVID-19 pandemic, a U.S. passport application should currently take 4-6 weeks to process, or 2-3 weeks if you’ve paid for expedited processing. These times don’t include shipping, which the State Department advises can take up to four weeks (two weeks for your application to arrive at their facility, and another two weeks for it to ship back from there to your home). 

So, if it’s been less than 10 weeks since you applied, you’re still within normal processing range—but there’s no harm in checking your progress anyway. No matter how long you’ve been waiting for your passport, here’s all you need to know about tracking your application status.

Check Your Passport Status Online

At passportstatus.state.gov, you can check the status of your application at any time (and as often as you’d like). Enter your personal information, and the site will tell you where things stand. Typically, your application will be labeled as one of the following:

• Not available, which usually means it just hasn’t arrived at the processing center yet
• In process
• Approved
• Mailed, which means your approved passport has been sent back out to you

Note that you may get separate “mailed” updates, and separate shipments, for your passport and any supporting documents you sent in when you applied. 

If you’d rather not check the site manually while you wait, you can sign up for email updates. With those, you’ll receive an email each time your application moves from one phase to the next.

Check Your Passport Status by Phone

The State Department website primarily suggests that applicants check their status online. If you’re unable to use their online tools, though, you can call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778 to get an update by phone. Calling can be especially useful if you have an unusual question or concern to discuss, like if you’ve developed urgent travel needs. 

What to Do If You Have Not Received Your Passport

If it’s been more than two weeks since your passport was mailed but it still hasn’t arrived, call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778. They’ll help you fill out form DS-86, a signed document declaring that your passport wasn’t received. Be sure not to wait too long on this—if you don’t report the missing passport within 120 days after it was marked as mailed, you’ll have to start your application over again.

What to Do If You Just Can’t Wait

There are a few options available if you need to speed up your application process. First, you can switch to expedited processing once your application is in the works. Call the National Passport Information Center, have $60 ready to pay for the expediting fee, and they’ll help you work through the process. You can also pay a further $21.36 to have your completed passport shipped to you in 1-2 days instead of the standard mailing time of up to two weeks. 

The State Department recommends expedited processing to people who need to travel abroad in “up to six weeks.” If your needs are more pressing than that, there are two tiers of even faster processing. “Urgent” processing serves those who need to travel in about three weeks or less, while “life-or-death emergency” processing serves people who need to go abroad in under 14 days—though, as the name suggests, this option is only available for those whose travel needs are a genuine matter of life or death. 

Both the “emergency” and “urgent” tiers require that you make an appointment in person at your nearest passport agency or center.

What to Do If You Applied Outside the U.S.

Applying for a U.S. passport from overseas is slightly more complicated than applying from within the States, typically requiring an in-person visit to your nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Once you’ve applied, though, you can use the same online tracking tools as any other applicant. It’s mainly the delivery method that can vary overseas — so checking with your local embassy or consulate is the best way to ensure you know when, where, and how your passport will be shipped.