Is It Possible to Get a Refund for Passport Fees?
The Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of
Passport Services has authorized persons at several public institutions
to accept passport applications and fees. You can apply for a passport
from an authorized clerk of court, United States post office, public
library, or other state, county, or municipal government office. In
this way, it's easy to
find a Passport Application Acceptance Facility near you
to make applying for a passport as convenient as possible. These
designated passport acceptance agents collect your passport
application, supporting documents, and related passport fees under the
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) governing passports.
All passport fees are considered payments associated with processing
your passport application and are therefore generally non-refundable,
whether you successfully obtain a passport or not. However, there are a
few exceptions to the rules.
Execution Fee
Execution fees are payable to the
acceptance agent
who collects your passport application, documents, and fees, and
administers the oath you take stating that all of your documents are
truthful. The non-refundable $35 fee pays for the services of the
Passport Acceptance Agent and should be submitted separately from the
passport fees. All Passport Application Acceptance Facilities will
accept a money order or bank draft for the $35 execution fee, and some
will accept exact cash, personal checks, or debit cards. Be sure to
check with your nearest Acceptance Facility about what forms of payment
are acceptable when you call to make your appointment.
According to the CFR governing passport execution fees, the only
circumstances under which execution fees will be refunded is if you
were improperly charged. If you are exempt from passport fees and your
passport was executed before a federal official, then you are exempt
from passport execution fees. Therefore those charged execution fees
when they were exempt from passport fees and applied to a federal
official will have their execution fees refunded.
Passport Fee
Your passport fee, like the passport execution fee, is an application
processing fee, so if you are unable to obtain a passport from the
application and documents you submitted, your fees are non-refundable.
You can only be refunded passport fees if you were improperly charged
under a passport fee exempt status. In other words, if you met the
criteria for passport fee exemption and you were still charged, you are
entitled to a refund.
U.S. citizens exempt from passport fees include an officer or
employee of the U.S. government on official business abroad or the
immediate family members of said officer, an American seaman on a U.S.
flagged vessel doing your duties, a widow, widower, parent, child,
brother, or sister of a deceased member of the Armed Forces whose
grave, funeral, or memorial service is abroad, other people exempted by
law, or those with any other reason the Department of State finds
compelling, you are exempt from passport application fees. Being
charged passport fees in these instances warrants a refund.
Security Surcharge Fee
Like all other passport fees, your inability to obtain a
passport does not allow for a refund of the security surcharge fee.
This non-refundable passport fee can only be refunded if you are exempt
from paying the passport fee and the passport execution fee. Exemption
from those two fees automatically exempts you from the security
surcharge fee. Therefore, if you were improperly charged a security
surcharge fee while exempt from passport fees, you are entitled to a
refund.
Expedite Passport Fee
You can request a refund for
expedited passport service
if you did not receive the services within the proper number of days,
but understand that the Department of State may deny your request.
Requests for refunds are considered on a case-by-case basis. Since the
expedited service commitment is calculated from the day the application
arrives at the agency, you will need to call the National Passport
Information Center to determine when your application was received. The
toll-free number is 1-877-487-2778.
If I Qualify, How Do I Get a Refund for My Passport Fees?
You must submit requests for refund of passport fees in writing.
The only exception to this is if you are seeking a Refund of
Overpayment, and that refund is $5.00 or more. For an overpayment, ask
the cashier at the Passport Agency or Passport Application Acceptance
Facility for a refund. He or she will verify the amount of overpayment
and make a note on the first page of the application the amount to be
refunded, the reason, and will then initial the note. The cashier will
make a photocopy and send it to the Customer Service Manager, who will
process the refund.
All other requests for refunds must be submitted in writing via mail,
fax, or public counter to the Customer Service Manager, who will
process the refund. Send your Email to
RefundsAtPassportServices@State.gov with the following information:
- Your full name
- Your date of birth
- Your mailing address
You can also request a refund by mailing the following address:
U.S. Department of State
Service Refund
2999 Passport PL
Washington, DC 20522-2999
How Do I Avoid Needing a Refund for My Passport Fees?
The best method for avoiding the hassle of trying to get a
refund on your passport fees is to understand the various fee waivers
and exemptions, determine if you qualify for either, and avoid
overpaying in the first place. It's always much easier to do something
right the first time than to try to fix it later, especially if you are
under a time constraint.
Fee Exemptions
To ensure you don't overpay when applying for your U.S.
passport, first check to see if you are eligible for passport fee
exemptions under one of eight categories. Already mentioned are
officers or employees of the U.S. government who are going abroad on
official business and their families, U.S. citizen sailors with an
assignment on a flagged U.S. vessel, and widows, widowers, parents,
children, brothers, or sisters of a deceased U.S. military members.
Others include United Seamen's Service employees providing facilities
or services for U.S. merchant seamen, Peace Corps volunteers, and
American Red Cross employees assigned abroad. Those returning to the
U.S. from humanitarian missions abroad may, at the designation of the
Secretary, be exempt. Those returning to the U.S. for law enforcement
purposes, or other categories of U.S. citizens exempted by law may also
be exempt from passport fees.
Passport Fees Waived
Passport fees are waived for U.S. citizens repatriating to the United
States when they have been issued emergency or limited-validity
passports and a repatriation loan by a U.S. embassy or consulate. U.S.
citizens who are victims of disasters or are evacuees abroad will have
passport fees waived for emergency and limited-validity passports to
get home. Returning U.S. citizens whose passports are lost or stolen
and are victims of serious crimes such as victims of sexual assault,
hostages, or victims of terrorist acts will have passport fees waived.
Those deported, extradited, or transferred as a prisoner back to the
U.S. will also have their passport fees waived.
Other Fees Waived
A file search fee will be waived if you are applying for a
passport abroad because yours was lost or stolen, or you are exempt
from passport from passport fees. When replacement passports are issued
in certain circumstances there may be no passport fees of any kind.
Expedite fees may be waived if the Department of State caused the need
for expediting the passport by their error or delay.
If you do not qualify for any passport fee exemptions or waivers, you will generally need to pay the
standard passport application fees and will not be eligible for refunds whether or not you are able to obtain a U.S. passport unless you have overpaid.
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