Sponsors
The bill eliminates routine passport‑card fees to lower costs and improve access—especially for low‑income applicants—but shifts the fiscal burden to the government (and potentially taxpayers), risking service strains while keeping faster service available only to those who can pay for expedited processing.
All U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents applying for a passport card will pay no routine issuance or renewal fee, reducing out‑of‑pocket travel document costs for applicants.
Low‑income people who need passport cards face a lower financial barrier, improving access to cross‑border travel, identification, and opportunities for cross‑border work.
Applicants who need documents quickly retain the option to pay expedited processing fees, preserving a faster service pathway for urgent cases.
The State Department will lose routine passport‑card fee revenue, which could increase pressure on taxpayers or require new appropriations to maintain services.
If lost fee revenue is not replaced, passport processing capacity and customer service for routine applications could worsen due to constrained resources.
Low‑income individuals who need faster service may still face delays because expedited processing remains fee‑based and unaffordable for some.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Eliminates ordinary issuance and reissuance fees for U.S. passport cards while continuing to allow expedited-processing fees.
Removes the routine government fee for issuing or reissuing U.S. passport cards while still allowing applicants to pay for expedited processing. Ordinary issuance and reissuance fees would be waived, which reduces out‑of‑pocket cost for people who need or renew passport cards but leaves expedited‑service charges intact. This change would reduce fee revenue collected for passport cards, likely shifting the cost burden to other Department of State resources or to other passport fees unless offset by appropriations or other revenue changes. It mainly affects applicants for passport cards and the Department of State operations that process them.
Introduced March 4, 2026 by Lauren Underwood · Last progress March 4, 2026