How Long Is a U.S. Passport Valid For?

22 CFR 51.4 states validity periods for specified U.S. passport and passport-card categories. For regular passports and cards, the quoted provisions distinguish applicants under 16 from those 16 or older.

This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

• A regular passport or passport card issued to someone 16 or older is valid for ten years from the date of issue, unless the Department of State limits it to a shorter period.
• A regular passport or passport card issued to someone under 16 is valid for five years from the date of issue.
• A regular passport for which the fee was excused is valid for five years from the date issued, regardless of the holder’s age.
• Service and official passports are valid for five years or for as long as the bearer keeps the status that justified issuing the document — whichever is shorter.
• A passport book only becomes valid once the bearer signs it; a passport card is valid without a signature.

What the regulation covers

Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, governs U.S. passports. The eCFR’s current display of this part states: “Displaying title 22, up to date as of 9/03/2026. Title 22 was last amended 8/30/2026” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51). The part’s validity provisions trace to a 2007 rulemaking: “Source: 72 FR 64931, Nov. 19, 2007, unless otherwise noted” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51).

Section 51.3 of the same part names four categories of U.S. passport: regular, service, official, and diplomatic (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51). This article reports the provisions in section 51.4 for regular, service, and official passports; it does not address diplomatic-passport validity. The quoted regular-passport and card provisions distinguish applicants under 16 from those 16 or older.

Ten-year validity at 16 or older

The regulation states: “A regular passport or passport card issued to an applicant 16 years of age or older is valid for ten years from date of issue…” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51). The same provision says the Department may limit the period of validity to less than ten years in individual cases.

Five-year validity for minors and fee-excused

Two separate provisions set a five-year period. First, for younger applicants: “A regular passport or passport card issued to an applicant under 16 years of age is valid for five years from date of issue…” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51).

Second, independent of the applicant’s age, a fee-excused regular passport carries the same five-year term: “A regular passport for which payment of the fee has been excused is valid for a period of five years from the date issued…” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51).

Service and official passports

For service and official passports, the cited provisions state a five-year period or the duration of the specified status, whichever is shorter.

For a service passport: “The period of validity of a service passport…is five years from the date of issue, or so long as the bearer maintains the status pursuant to which the service passport is issued, whichever is shorter” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51).

For an official passport, the regulation uses nearly identical language: “The period of validity of an official passport…is five years from the date of issue, or so long as the bearer maintains his or her official status, whichever is shorter” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51).

Signature requirement: book versus card

Validity period is not the only condition the regulation attaches. A passport book does not take effect until the bearer signs it: “A passport book is valid only when signed by the bearer in the space designated for signature…” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51). The passport card is treated differently: “A passport card is valid without the signature of the bearer” (eCFR, Title 22, Part 51).

What this article does not answer

This article reports only what 22 CFR 51.3 and 51.4 state about validity periods and the signature requirement for regular, service, and official passports. It does not address diplomatic passports — the fourth category 51.3 names — or their validity period. It does not determine whether any particular passport or passport card is currently valid — that depends on the document’s own issue date and any case-specific limitation the Department applied. It does not explain why any specific passport was issued with a shorter validity period than the general rule. It does not address what a foreign country requires for entry, including any rule that a passport remain valid for a minimum period beyond a traveler’s visit — that is a separate set of records maintained by each destination country, not the U.S. validity regulation covered here. And it makes no determination about any individual’s document or eligibility.

Source links

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/chapter-I/subchapter-E/part-51