Sponsors
The bill lowers out‑of‑pocket costs for passport‑card users—benefiting frequent and low‑income cross‑border travelers—but shifts financial and operational burdens to the State Department, risking longer processing times and unequal access to expedited service for those who cannot pay.
People who apply for passport cards (including frequent cross‑border travelers and low‑income applicants) will pay less because issuance and routine renewal fees for passport cards are eliminated.
Passport-card applicants may face longer processing times if application volume rises and the State Department does not receive matching increases in staffing or funding.
Low‑income applicants who cannot pay expedited fees may experience slower service and reduced practical access compared with those who can pay for faster processing, creating an equity concern.
Eliminating routine passport‑card fees reduces fee revenue to the State Department, which could require budget offsets, increased costs elsewhere, or cuts to other services funded by that revenue.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Removes the routine fee for issuing or reissuing passport cards while still allowing expedited-processing fees.
Introduced March 4, 2026 by Lauren Underwood · Last progress March 4, 2026
Eliminates the Department of State fee for issuing or reissuing U.S. passport cards, while still allowing the State Department to charge fees for expedited processing. The change removes the standard passport-card issuance cost for applicants but does not affect fees for passport books or expedited services.