U.S. citizens are required to enter and exit the United States using a valid U.S. passport. If you are overseas and your U.S. passport expired on or after January 1, 2020, you may be able to use your expired passport to return directly to the United States until December 31, 2021.

You qualify for this exception if all the following are true:

• You are a U.S. citizen.
• You are currently abroad seeking direct return to the United States.
• You are flying directly to the United States, a United States territory, or have only short-term transit (“connecting flights”) through a foreign country on your direct return to the United States or to a United States Territory.
• Your expired passport was originally valid for 10 years. Or, if you were 15 years of age or younger when the passport was issued, your expired passport was valid for 5 years.
• Your expired passport is undamaged.
• Your expired passport is unaltered.
• Your expired passport is in your possession.

You do not qualify for this exception if:

• You wish to depart from the United States to an international destination.
• You are currently abroad seeking to travel to a foreign country for any length of stay longer than an airport connection en route to the United States or to a United States territory.
• Your expired passport was limited in validity.
  Your expired passport is a special issuance passport (such as a diplomatic, official, service, or no-fee regular passport).
• Your expired passport is damaged.
• Your expired passport is altered.
• Your expired passport is not in your possession.

All other passport rules and regulations remain in effect. The Department of Homeland Security maintains discretion to reject any bearer in accordance with 22 CFR 53.2(b)(7) and 8 CFR 235.1(b)

Most passport renewals for adults do not require an in-person appearance. Embassy London is still accepting routine adult passport renewal applications by mail for all citizens in the United Kingdom. Please see below for details of eligibility, application requirements and where to send your application. In person appointments for this service are not available.

Emergency procedures and travel restrictions may change rapidly due to the impact of COVID-19. If you are currently in the United States or another country and your U.S. passport has expired or is due to expire imminently, you should renew your passport before you travel to the United Kingdom.

Eligibility

You may renew by mail if all of the following applies:

Your passport is:

• Undamaged;
• Issued within the last 15 years;
• Issued with a 10 year validity; and
• Issued in your current name or you have changed your name since your passport was issued and can submit legal documentation to prove this change.

Additional Requirements

• Form DS-82 available online here or as a downloadable PDF (84 KB). 
  You must print and sign the form
• Your most recent U.S. passport
• One passport photograph
• $110.00 non-refundable application fee
• Evidence of Change of Name – e.g. Marriage Certificate, Change of Name Deed, Statutory Declaration or Court Order (name change must have taken place after your passport was issued)
• Return delivery envelope – pre-paid (up to 500g) self-addressed Royal Mail Special Delivery envelope, or DX courier envelope

Important

For specific passport photograph, application fee and social security information please ensure you continue reading this page. Applications received without all required documents will face delays.

DO NOT mail your application to the United States as this will cause delays.

Photo Requirements

• Color photograph
• Taken in last 6 months
• No eyeglasses (If you must wear eye glasses for medical reasons, you’ll need to submit a signed statement with your application from a medical professional)
• 2 x 2 inches
• For babies and small children, it is advisable to have someone take the photograph (photo booth photos may not be accepted)  Infants’ eyes are not required to be open

Please click here for more information regarding passport photograph requirements.

Fees

Fee amounts and exchange rates change periodically. Please check this web page for the latest fee before obtaining your payment and submitting your application.

There is no expedited service outside the United States.  Please do not include fees other than those stated on this page. Incorrect payment amounts and methods will not be accepted.

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How much to pay

£84 (POUNDS STERLING) or $110 (U.S. DOLLARS)

Acceptable payment methods by mail

• Postal Money Order (in U.S. dollars or pounds sterling) in the exact amount made payable to the “U.S. Department of State.” The Postal Order can be either crossed or uncrossed.
• Bank Draft (in U.S. dollars or pounds sterling) in the exact amount made payable to the “U.S. Department of State.”

Please staple your payment to the front of your application form in the top right-hand corner. 

Please note we cannot accept personal checks. For more information on payment methods accepted for mail-in applications click here 

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Social Security Numbers

If you have been issued a social security number (SSN) you must provide it on your application for a U.S. passport. If the name on your social security record does not match the name on your passport application please make sure that you have completed question 9 on the form – ‘List all other names you have used’.

If you do not have a Social Security Number, you must submit a statement, signed and dated, that includes the phrase “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the following is true and correct: I have never been issued a Social Security number by the Social Security Administration.”

If you are in the United Kingdom and require a new or replacement Social Security number card, you should contact the Federal Benefits Unit at the Embassy.