Getting a US passport will soon no longer require a trip to your local Walgreens for a fluorescent-lit headshot.
Starting in 2027, Americans will be able to apply for their first passport entirely online through a new federal portal designed to put government information, forms, and services in one place. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the changes on September 29, summing up the new digitized process as: “No printing forms, no drugstore hostage photo, no appointment, no line, no middleman.”
The new portal is expected to let first-time US passport applicants complete the entire process online, including the ability to take your passport photo at home, pay the required fees, and then track the application through to an estimated delivery date.
But the changes don’t stop there. Beginning in 2028, the State Department plans to release a new passport design with a larger Great Seal on the cover, an eagle motif that appears to move as the pages are flipped, and a new 38-page format that will replace the current 26- and 50-page options.
Taken together, the changes will reshape both how many Americans apply for a passport and what the document itself looks like. Here’s everything travelers need to know.
First-time passport applications are going online
The State Department has allowed eligible Americans to renew their passports online since September 2024, but first-time applicants have remained tied to a much more traditional process. They generally need to fill out Form DS-11 and appear in person at an authorized passport acceptance facility, such as a post office, library, or clerk of court.
America.gov is attempting to transition much of that process online. During the September 29 unveiling, officials demonstrated an application that starts with Login.gov and allows users to move through the passport process in one place, including filling out the application, submitting a photograph, paying the required fees, and eventually tracking the passport as it moves through processing.
One of the more noticeable changes will be the photo. Rather than having to get passport pictures taken elsewhere, applicants will be able to take their own with a phone or upload an existing digital image.
That doesn’t mean any image in your camera roll will work. Passport-photo requirements will still apply, including rules governing the background, lighting, positioning, and age of the image, and digitally altered or filtered photos are not allowed. Still, Rubio joked during the demonstration that people could take as many photos as necessary before settling on one they liked.
