WASHINGTON, DC -- If you're in need of a passport for upcoming international travel, better hurry or you'll be paying more for the privilege.As of Tuesday, July 13, adult passport book fees will go from $100 to $135, and the fee for persons under 16 will go from $85 to $105. Renewals of adult passports will go from $75 to $110.
The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which oversees the passport office, also is raising 24 other related fees.
The "switch to the e-passport with the chip and the additional security features are what is increasing the costs," said John Echard, a spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs. "It's a lot more expensive to make passports now than it used to be."
New passports have had an electronic chip embedded in them since October 2006. The chips contain all the information in the passport plus facial-recognition data.
Passport cards, which resemble driver's licenses and are used to allow entrance to the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean at land border crossings or sea ports-of-call.
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