Respond to a Letter or Email (2024)

Subscribe to email updatesabout the status of your passport application so you know immediately if we need additional information from you. We have two status updates if we send you a letter and/or email:

Additional Information Needed: This update is available on the date we send you a letter and/or email. Follow the instructions in the letter and this page, and respond within 90 days.

Information Received, In Process Again: We received the information you sent us and will continue processing your application.

This is the most common problem with passport applications. Please review ourphoto requirementsbefore taking a new photo.

If only one (or neither) parent or guardian applied in person for the child’s passport under age 16, we may have a question about parental consent.

Please Note: You must submitForm DS-3053or other notarized statements withinthree monthsof it being signed.

To show parental relationship, submit one of the following:

• U.S. birth certificate
• Foreign birth certificate
• Adoption decree
• Divorce/Custody decree

You may also have received this letter if your name has changed since the child’s birth. In that case, please send evidence of your name change. Examples include:

• Court-ordered name change
• Marriage certificate
• Divorce decree

You must submit both the original (or certified) birth certificateanda photocopy. Your U.S. birth certificate must meet the following requirements:

• Issued by the city, county, or state of birth
• Lists applicant’s full name, date of birth, and place of birth
• Lists parent(s)’ full names
• Has the signature of the city, county, or state registrar
• Has the date filed with registrar's office (must be within one year of birth)
• Has the seal or stamp of the city, county, or state which issued it

If your birth certificate did not meet one of those requirements, you must contact thevital records officeof the state or territory in which you were born to order a new U.S. birth certificate.

If there is no birth certificate on file in the state or territory in which you were born, you must submit a Letter of No Record and a combination of early public records. See ourCitizenship Evidencepage for more information.

When you renew by mail, our intake facility will review your application and supporting documents before an agency or center begins processing it.

The intake facility will send you a letter if you did not complete the application or provide all supporting documents. The letter may include a QR code with a link our Renew by Mail page. Common reasons for getting this letter include:

• No signature or date on your form
• Bad or missing photo
• Pages of your form are missing
• Wrong or missing fees
• Most recent passport is missing
• Most recent passport issued over 15 years ago
• You are not eligible to renew and must apply in person

Follow the instructions in the letter. You must include the letter we sent you when you resubmit the new application.

When your application is at the intake facility, your application status will show as "Not Available" if you check our Online Passport Status System. Your application will be "In Process" once a passport agency or center begins processing your new application.

When you applied in person, you had to show the acceptance agent a photo ID. If you received a letter or email asking for more identification, send us several photo IDs and include front-and-back photocopies of each one.

If you were born outside the United States and acquired U.S. citizenship through the naturalization of your parent(s), please submit the following with your passport application:

• Your foreign birth certificate listing your parent(s)
• Evidence of your parent’s U.S. citizenship such as a U.S. birth certificate, Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), or naturalization certificate
• Evidence of your permanent residence status. Examples include:
  • Permanent Resident Card/Green Card
  • Foreign passport with the original I-551 visa entry stamp
• Your parents' marriage certificate (if your parents were married when you legally entered the U.S. and before your 18th birthday)
• Documentation of legal custodywhen you entered the United States, if your parents were not married at that time. If your parents divorced after you entered the United States, provide documentation of legal custody at the time of your parent’s naturalization
• Evidence that you resided in the United States in the legal and physical custody of your U.S. citizen parent
• Evidence of your legitimation (if your parents werenotmarriedat the time of your birth). Legitimation means a father – whose child was born when he was not married – establishes a full legal relationship to his child. Establishing this relationship gives the father the same rights and obligations as if his child had been born while he was married to the child’s mother.
• Examples of legitimation include:
  • Your parents' marriage certificate dated after your birth
  • Certified court order of legitimation

Please seeU.S. Citizenship Laws & Policyfor more information.

U.S. Citizenship through Adoption

If you were born outside the United States and acquired citizenship through adoption by a U.S. citizen parentwhile under the age of 18, please seeChild Citizenship Act of 2000for more information.