How to Renew Your Australian Passport in the USA

Renewing your Australian passport in the USA is handled by the Australian Government, not a U.S. agency, and for most adults it's a streamlined mail-in application. This is your Australian travel document, separate from your U.S. visa, and renewing one doesn't touch the other. The process is simple, but it takes longer from overseas, so renew while you still have plenty of validity to spare.

How to renew your Australian passport in the US

To renew your Australian passport in the U.S., you apply through the Australian Passport Office, usually by mailing your application to the Australian embassy or a consulate using the overseas renewal process. Most adults qualify for the streamlined renewal (the PC7), while some cases need an in-person appointment instead.

Here's the process step by step:

1. Check you're eligible. You generally qualify for the streamlined renewal if your most recent passport was issued when you were 16 or older, was valid for at least two years, was issued on or after January 1, 2006, and hasn't been reported lost or stolen. First-time applicants, children, and anyone who doesn't meet those conditions use the full application (the PC8) in person by appointment.
2. Complete the renewal form. Fill it out online through the passport portal or on paper, then print it to lodge. Verify the current rules before you start, since they change.
3. Get Australian-spec photos. Australian photo requirements differ from U.S. ones, so a standard drugstore photo is usually rejected. Use a provider that produces Australian-spec prints. The embassy keeps a list of approved photographers and won't accept selfies, app photos, or most prints from unlisted chains.
4. Pay the fee and mail it in. Pay the renewal fee, then mail your form, photos, and payment to the Australian embassy, which lists the exact steps and the address to send to.

How long it takes and what it costs

Renewing an Australian passport from the U.S. takes longer than it does within Australia, and the fee is higher because of an overseas surcharge. Plan for several weeks from the day you lodge, plus a few more for mailing, and keep at least six months of validity before any planned travel; priority processing is available if you're short on time.

As of January 2026, the cost from overseas is about A$610 in total: a standard 10-year adult passport (A$422) plus an overseas surcharge of around A$190, usually paid in local currency by card.

Fees are indexed every January, so confirm the current fee and processing times on the Australian Passport Office site.

What happens to your US visa when you renew your passport

Renewing your Australian passport does not affect your U.S. visa, but because the visa is stamped in your passport, you keep your old passport and carry both once the new one arrives. The passport is your Australian travel document; the visa is your U.S. immigration document, issued by a different government. Renewing one does nothing to the other.

If you still have your old passport

Renew as normal. The Australian Passport Office cancels the old passport but returns it to you with the new one, and the U.S. visa inside stays valid, so keep it and travel with both. A valid visa in an expired or cancelled passport remains usable as long as you also carry a current passport, and you don't try to transfer it to the new book.

At the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection checks the visa in the old passport and annotates the new one "VIOPP," for visa in other passport, which is routine.

If your passport was lost or stolen

Report it to local police and contact the issuing consular section right away. A U.S. visa in a lost or stolen passport can't be replaced inside the United States, so you'd apply for a new visa in person at a U.S. consulate abroad.

One distinction matters here: the visa is only your entry document, while your I-94 arrival record, shown as a date or "D/S" on your admission stamp, governs how long you can stay. A valid I-94 can let you remain in the U.S. even if the visa itself would need replacing for re-entry.

Frequently asked questions