Passport FAQs

You should allow a minimum of 6 weeks to receive your new passport.  Currently, we receive most passport 8-12 weeks after lodgement.  If you have an urgent need to travel, please see our Urgent Travel page. 

Adults using the one-page PC7 Australian Passport Renewal Application form can apply by mail or in person. 

Most applications to renew passports for children 15 years and younger can be lodged by mail.

All other applications must be lodged in person. This includes all first time applications, all applications for 16/17 year children, and all applications for adults using the 5-page PC8 Application for an Australian Passport Overseas form.  

Please visit our How to Apply page for further instructions.

You can monitor the where to apply page of this website for announcements of outreach interviews in other states across the USA in case we happen to be coming somewhere closer to you.

No, unless your application is already eligible to be lodged by mail.  Please visit our How to Apply page for further information.  Distance from a passport office is not part of the criteria. 

Each office is different so please check your closest passport office location for details.

Either parent can lodge the passport application for a child. There is no requirement for the lodging parent to be an Australian citizen.

It depends on the age of the child.  Children aged 16 and 17 years old must attend the interview with one parent.  Children aged 15 years and younger are not required to attend.

Adult interviews usually take 10-20 minutes.  Child interviews usually take 15-30 minutes. 

If you are missing documents or your photos do not meet our requirements, you will need to return for a second interview. 

Yes, you can renew your passport at any time.

No, your new passport will be a new booklet and will have a new number.

No. You must apply for a new passport or a replacement passport (valid up to the same date as your existing passport.)

No.  If you do not plan to travel and/or do not need a passport right now, you do not have to renew your passport before it expires. There is no penalty or fine if your passport expires. 

Renewing a passport is a personal choice.  However, you cannot leave the United States without a valid passport so if you have international travel planned, or need a passport for another reason, we encourage you to apply now.

Please apply for an emergency passport as soon as possible.  We can generally issue an emergency passport in about 2 working days. If you need to travel more quickly, please call your lodging office to discuss your situation. 

No.  The status of your passport has no effect on your Australian citizenship. 

It depends.  Adults may have to complete a longer form if their last passport was issued before 2006, or was lost/stolen, or they are changing the details on their passport.  Children complete the same form regardless of whether their passport is expired. 

Your current passport may still be valid when you apply for a new one but it will be cancelled on the date your new one is issued.  Once you’ve applied for a new passport, the Australian Passport Office recommends you don’t travel. This is because your current passport may be cancelled while you are overseas.

We do not cancel any visas inside your passport.  However, you should be aware that not all countries accept visas in passports that are no longer valid. Please check with the embassy of the country that issued your visa for specific advice. 

No.  We cannot assist you with any enquiries on foreign visas. You must contact the embassy of the country that issued the visa.

For US visas, we encourage you to consult with your visa sponsor and/or immigration lawyer for information about your particular situation. We also encourage you to contact U.S. immigration authorities:

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): https://www.uscis.gov or tel.: +1 800 375 5283. 
• U.S. Department of State, Visa Services: https://travel.state.gov or tel.: +1 202 485 7600.

We do not cancel US visas so in most cases the visa will still be valid.  However, you should contact US immigration to discuss your particular situation especially if your passport is damaged. You should not assume that a visa in a badly damaged passport is valid.

All citizenship enquiries should be directed to the Department of Home Affairs in Australia on 011 612 6196 0196. You may be eligible to become an Australian citizen again if you lost your citizenship because of acquiring the citizenship of another country, or renounced or gave up your Australian citizenship.

To assist clients living in the United States, we have provided details of photographers recently used by our clients with good results: Map of photographers.

If you do not live near these photographers, you will need to find a local photographer and provide them with the Australian passport photo specifications. You may wish to go to a shop that specialises in photos as its core business as our clients generally report that these shops are able to make the necessary adjustments to meet the Australian specifications.  However, there are many places capable of producing acceptable photos for Australian passports.  Each store is different so you will need to talk to your photographer to make sure he/she can take the type of photo you need.  Just because one particular store is able to produce a compliant photo does not mean that all photos produced by that chain will be acceptable. Check that the photographer uses studio lighting so that there are no shadows under your chin or behind your ear, and no flash reflection on your face. 

We do not guarantee the work of any individual photographer or store, so it is important that you check the photographs yourself to make sure they meet all requirements.

This is a common problem, usually caused when the photos are printed on an inkjet printer.  Please make sure your photographer is using a dye sublimation printer. 

The best way for you to check whether your photo is high resolution is to use a magnifying glass.  If you see stripes, grains, pixels or distortions, then the photo is not high resolution and will be rejected.

Please refer to the Australian Passport Office's camera operator guidelines.

No.  You must remove them for your passport photo, even if you wear them all of the time.   

The 'crown of head' is where the top of your skull would be if it were visible. It is not the top of your hair or the start of your hairline.  Picture yourself bald and measure your skull from the top of your skull to the tip of your chin.

Yes, provided the image inside meets our photo requirements.

No. We will do that for you.

The Australian website cannot verify overseas addresses. This message is just a warning. As long you are satisfied that the address you have entered is correct you can proceed by pressing the 'next' button.  You should use your current US address for this section (unless you are a tourist passing through the United States).

It does not matter. Please print your online application onto US letter size paper. Be careful to shrink the images to fit onto letter size paper as we cannot accept an application form with the top or bottom of the pages cut off. 

No. Only completed applications can be printed from the website. If you require a blank application form, please contact the office where you will be lodging your application and one will be mailed to you. Blank forms cannot be faxed. 

Yes. You can print your form in either black and white or colour.

Section 16 of the adult application form asks you to list the details of your Australian driving licence if you are using them as part of your ID combination.  This section is optional.  If you do not have these documents, leave Section 16 blank. Remember that you will still need to submit a full ID combination with your adult application. For child applications, the lodging parent must submit government-issued photo/signature ID and proof of address.

You have two options.  You can either have them sent to you in the United States so that you present them at your interview, or you can have a friend/relative present the original documents on your behalf.

No.  Please make sure all sections of the form are signed before you attend your interview.  We cannot witness your consent or act as your guarantor.

No.  Please make sure your form is fully completed and witnessed before coming to the Passport Office for your interview.  We cannot witness your signature.

No. You must provide the originals of all documents required at your interview. 

The original documents can be presented by a third party at any Australian passport office worldwide. They do not have to be presented at the same office where you are appearing for your interview. 

No.  It is not possible to apply for your passport electronically. If you have prepared your application online, you should print it and follow the instructions on our website about How to Apply. 

No.

You do NOT need an Australian citizen as a guarantor. You have two options:

• a non-Australian who is currently employed in one of these occupation groups; OR
• a current Australian passport holder.

If you do not know anyone in the USA who can be your guarantor, then you will need to obtain a guarantor from your previous country of residence. You will need to send them the guarantor page from your application form plus one of your photos. Once they have filled in the documents as outlined on the application form, they must return the original documents to you so that you can submit them with your application. 

We cannot accept faxes or emails from your guarantor.  They must send the originals back to you for lodgement. If you need to travel in the next few weeks, please make sure you have the documents sent to/from your guarantor by courier so that you receive them in time to lodge your application.  

No.  The passport needs to have at least two years validity from when it was issued - i.e. it cannot be a temporary passport that was issued for under two years. It does not matter if there is less than two years validity remaining on the passport now, so long as there was at least two years when it was issued.   

If you are using the one page renewal form, called the Australian Passport Renewal Application (PC7), you do not need a guarantor. 

If you are using the Application for an Australian Passport Overseas (PC8) form, then you must provide a guarantor.

No, you can use a different person.

Yes, if you are an Australian citizen.  You are not entitled to a visa, even if you are also a citizen of another country. There is more information about this on the Australian Border Force website or you can call the Department of Home Affairs in Australia on 011 613 6196 0196.

Generally passengers travelling to/from the USA must have a passport that exactly matches the name on their airline ticket.  If you are concerned, you should contact your airline to see if they will carry you and the immigration department of all countries to which you are travelling to ensure you will be able to fulfil their immigration/customs requirements.

Your Australian passport must be valid (not expired) on the day of your arrival in Australia.  It does not need to have six months remaining validity to enter Australia unless you are passing through a third country that requires it. 

If you are travelling to a different country, you can review the entry/exit requirements for your intended destination on Australia's Smartraveller site or contact the embassy of that country for specific advice.