International travel can be exciting and rewarding, but in order to travel outside of the United States, you will be required to have a passport. This document must be up to date and in good condition. Your passport has a 15 year period before it needs to be renewed. To renew a passport you can do this through the mail, but it must meet certain criteria.

The passport renewal process is simple. There are some conditions that must be met in order to be able to have it processed through the mail. You simply need to fill out form DS-82 and send it overnight in a padded envelope to the National Passport Processing Center in Philadelphia.

There is a 15 year period on a passport, so if you’ve had yours for longer than that period you will need to apply for a new one. The post office will process the necessary paper work, providing you have the proper documentation and a recent passport photo. You will need your ID and birth certificate to complete this process.

As long as you have a valid current passport that is not damaged you can apply to renew it by mail. If your passport is damaged, then it needs to be replaced and this will require applying for a replacement. In order to replace your damaged passport, you will need to fill out Form DS-11, provide proof of residency, and provide the damaged passport and proof of identity.

When processing the DS-11 you will need to bring two new 2” x 2” photos. Passport photos must be taken by an authorized photo center. Many film processing stores are certified to take these photos. Most of these centers can provide the photos within a few minutes.

You also must have been over the age of 16 when you received your passport in order to renew a passport through the mail. Your passport can not be more than 15 years old and must contain information that is correct. If you need to apply for a new passport, then you can do so over the internet on the State departments website.

You must also have the same name as what appears on your passport in order to renew passport. There are many different instances where your name may have changed, such as a change in marital status. If your name has changed, you will then need to apply for a passport name change. This can be done through the mail and will require one of two different forms depending on how long you have had your passport.

There are stipulations to renew your American passport via the mail, but as long as you meet all of the criteria you can process a renew a pasport application through the mail. These requirements include current and accurate information, your name included. Your passport must also be in good condition or you cannot renew it, you will have to replace it in person instead. You can process the renewal through the National Passport Processing Center in Pennsylvania. You must currently be residing in the country to renew through the mail. If you are not, you can renew it through the consulate or embassy in the country you are residing in.