New York · est. 2013Saturday, September 5, 2026
Inside Immigration

Plain-language guides to US immigration, asylum and USCIS procedure.

Forms

DS-11 Application for a U.S. Passport

The first-time U.S. passport application. It matters in immigration work because a passport is the cheapest and fastest proof of U.S. citizenship for a person who acquired or derived it - often faster than a certificate of citizenship on Form N-600. It is signed in person before an acceptance agent.

Fee
unverified - the fee is published on the State Department passport fee page, which was not among the pages read for this catalogue
Fee waiver
Not available
Who files
First-time adult applicants, children under 16, and anyone who cannot renew by mail.
Where to file
In person at a passport acceptance facility or agency.

Usually filed with

Part of these processes

What changed in 2025 and 2026

  • Included here only because acquired-citizenship cases are often solved with a passport application rather than a USCIS filing. Fees and edition were not verified against a page read for this catalogue.

Official page. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html. Download the form there, never from a third-party site; check the edition date and fee before filing.