US plans to introduce a new passport design in 2028

The United States will replace its passport with a redesigned book in 2028, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 29 September, and first-time applicants will be able to apply entirely online. A notice the department published in April says the new book will come in a single size of 38 pages, ending the 50-page option that the department now issues to overseas and special-issuance applicants.

What changes on the book

Mr Rubio presented “the 2028 U.S. passport”, designed with the National Design Studio. On the cover, “United States of America” moves to the top and the Great Seal is larger and more gold. Inside, an eagle crosses the pages, flying over scenes from Lexington and the westward migration to Iwo Jima and the Artemis splashdown. He said there were security features he could not show.

The book size is set out in a State Department notice in the Federal Register of 20 April. The department now issues 26-page and 50-page books; with the redesign, anticipated for 2028, every passport book type becomes a single 38-page book, except the 12-page emergency passport.

Who gains pages and who renews more often

According to the notice, 92% of applicants for a passport book ask for the 26-page version; for them, the department says, the single book “will allow more visa pages”. Most of the 8% who receive a 50-page book get it because the department issues that size to overseas and special-issuance applicants as a matter of practice. The department says some frequent international travellers, US citizens living abroad and special-issuance holders “will need to renew more frequently” once the 50-page option is gone, but expects them “to make up a small percentage of all passport applicants”. It says planned changes to its online renewal platform, to let overseas applicants renew online, may ease that burden. The notice invited comments until 22 June.

Neither the notice nor the Secretary’s remarks says what will happen to passports already issued.

Applying online

“Starting next year, Americans will be able to apply for their first passport entirely online,” Mr Rubio said. There would be no forms to print, no appointment and no queue, and applicants would take the photo on a phone or upload one. Later in the same remarks he said the department was “not waiting until 2027” to bring an application “you can complete entirely from home”. He gave no date more precise than “next year”. The goal, he said, is for the vast majority of Americans to be able to apply for a passport or passport card on America.gov by the end of 2027.

For Vietnamese-American families

For a Vietnamese-American family that applies at a US embassy or consulate and now receives a 50-page book, the notice means a 38-page book at the first renewal after the 2028 redesign and, in the department’s words, it may be among those who “will need to renew more frequently”. Families who hold the 26-page book, the choice of 92% of applicants, would receive more pages at the same point. The online renewal route for applicants abroad is described as planned; no date is given.