First-Time Adult Passport Cost (2026): $165.00

Does this scenario require an execution fee?

Yes. First-time adults apply in person on Form DS-11, so you pay $35.00 to the acceptance facility plus $130.00 to the Department of State. Mail renewal skips execution. That path is on adult renewal cost.

Who this number is for

Use this page if you are 16 or older and you cannot mail a renewal. That includes never having a passport, holding only a card, or holding a book that no longer qualifies for Form DS-82. Children belong on the child passport cost page. Adults who still qualify to mail a book should start at renewal cost.

First-time adults use Form DS-11 in person. You don't mail the package yourself. An acceptance facility has to witness the signature, stamp the application, and collect the execution fee.

Two payments, two payees

The $130.00 application fee is payable to the U.S. Department of State. Facilities often want a check or money order for that line, not a card. The $35.00 execution fee is separate and goes to the post office, clerk, or other facility. They set how you pay them. If you only bring one check made out to the wrong office, they will send you out to rewrite it.

Adding a passport card at the same appointment does not double the execution fee. You pay one $35.00 plus both application fees. The combo math lives on book and card together.

What else people forget to budget

Expedite adds $60.00 and is a separate product from 1-2 day return shipping ($21.36). You can buy one, both, or neither. Photo studios nearby usually charge around $15.00; that is not on the State Department invoice. If you have no birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or old passport, a file search is $150.00. Most first-time applicants never pay that.

Routine timing is listed on our routine processing page. If a trip is inside a couple of months, read expedited passport cost before you assume the clerk can rush it for free.

Documents for this path

Bring completed DS-11 (in black ink, no signature until they tell you), citizenship evidence, photo ID plus photocopies, and one 2x2 photo. The full pile is on the documents checklist. Use where to apply to find a desk that takes DS-11.

See also passport fees, processing times, and passport card cost.