Help me preserve my passport

January 9, 2015 10:54 AM

My US passport needs to be renewed. I am supposed to submit my old passport along with my renewal documents. Will I get the old passport back? It has several stamps with sentimental value, so I'd like to preserve them if at all possible. I know it's possible to "lose" the old passport and pay a fee, but is that necessary?
posted by philosophygeek to Law & Government (32 answers total)

When I got my latest passport the old one was returned with a punch through the front cover to show that it was expired. So you should get the old one back.
posted by ldthomps at 10:56 AM on January 9, 2015 [37 favorites]

I don't think you will get it back. Federal law dictates that a person can only hold one passport at a time, which is why they ask you to submit the old one.

I haven't renewed my passport since it expired, because I haven't had a need to travel overseas. You can still renew it up to 5 years expired for the renewal fee rather than the new passport fee.
posted by tckma at 10:56 AM on January 9, 2015

I got my old one back last year when I sent in for a renewal, as well. Not sure if it had the punch through it or not, but my bloated 18-year-old face was sure as shit staring back at me once again.
posted by jabes at 10:57 AM on January 9, 2015 [3 favorites]

ldthomps has it. I just renewed mine in 2014 and they sent the old one back.
posted by tuesdayschild at 10:57 AM on January 9, 2015

You will get it back with a hole punched in it. Have done this several times over the years, most recently only a year or two ago. Old passports are great souvenirs.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:57 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've always gotten the old ones back, even in cases of accidental cancellation due to having thought it was stolen and then finding it under the bed. I most recently renewed in 2012.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:57 AM on January 9, 2015

Yes, I believe you get it back. I submitted mine with a new passport application in November and got it back (along with other documents like my birth certificate) in a separate envelope. IIRC they docked the corner to indicate that it was no longer valid.
posted by pullayup at 10:58 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Renewed last year. They sent it back with the hole punches.
posted by jessca84 at 10:59 AM on January 9, 2015

"Applicants will receive their old passport back in the mail. It may be sent separately from the new passport." - U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
posted by fireoyster at 11:00 AM on January 9, 2015 [10 favorites]

I too got mine back with a hole.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 11:00 AM on January 9, 2015

Yup, returned with punched cover.
posted by quince at 11:00 AM on January 9, 2015

Just another voice, you definitely get it back.
posted by brainmouse at 11:09 AM on January 9, 2015

Nthing that you'll get it back with a punched cover.

Also: Federal law dictates that a person can only hold one passport at a time
Actually, you can apply for a second passport. It will have a shorter duration (generally, 2 years). This is helpful for people who want to travel to, for example, both Israel and certain other countries. See also.
posted by melissasaurus at 11:10 AM on January 9, 2015 [4 favorites]

Yes, you get it back. The last time I renewed my passport this was actually important because my old one contained a visa that hadn't expired yet. (I had to present both copies of the passport the next time I traveled to Brazil, and there was no difficulty.)
posted by jozxyqk at 11:20 AM on January 9, 2015

I got mine back several weeks after the new one arrived.
posted by Flamingo at 11:22 AM on January 9, 2015

I have always gotten mine back, punched, but my wife needed to replace one that had been through the laundry and was all curled up and missing the cover and about an inch thick... she didn't get that one back.

So if yours is ridiculously damaged, you might want to "lose" it.
posted by bink at 11:41 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

You get the old one back.
posted by humboldt32 at 11:46 AM on January 9, 2015

Also, it often comes back separately (before or after) the new passport, so don't stress out if that happens.
posted by exogenous at 12:01 PM on January 9, 2015

Yeah, them returning the old one with the punch through the cover is one of the very nicest little services of the federal government.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:07 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Not only do you get the old one back (with a hole punched in it), it continues to be valid proof of identity and citizenship within the United States, even though it is no longer a valid document for travel outside the States. This is useful, say, if you discover the loss of your current passport while trying to find it to provide ID to a new employer for a W-9, since even an expired/canceled passport fits the "one from column A" rule, without requiring the "one from column B AND one from column C" conditions to be met. Ask Me How I Know.

No, I still haven't gotten a replacement Social Security Card for the one I lost years ago, and when you apply for a replacement for the lost passport you send in the canceled one and get it back a second time.
posted by fedward at 12:22 PM on January 9, 2015 [4 favorites]

I know lots of people have chimed in to reassure you.

But I wanted to add that getting the old passport back is not just a nice thing. For my British citizenship application, I need to send in all passports (current and expired) which I used during my lawful residence here. Also many people have visas in the old passport which remain valid -you just have to carry both passports with you everywhere.

So the fact that I have my old US passport is not just about sentimentality here - it is something I and many others absolutely require.
posted by vacapinta at 12:22 PM on January 9, 2015 [8 favorites]

Nthing what was said above and in the experience I and some friends had in the past year, the old one (punched cover) will be sent separately and up to 2 weeks later so keep your eyes open!
posted by pointystick at 12:35 PM on January 9, 2015

Nthing that when my wife renewed she also got her old one back with a hole in it.
posted by Twain Device at 12:42 PM on January 9, 2015

And Nthing that it typically arrives at a different time from the new one. My wife's were not packaged together.
posted by Twain Device at 12:43 PM on January 9, 2015

ldthomps has it right: you get the old one back with a hole punched in it (rendering it null and void).

I have in my possession all my expired passports as well as the current one.
posted by cool breeze at 1:32 PM on January 9, 2015

Just like everyone else in the thread, I got my old passport back with a hole in it.

But as an additional suggestion, just on the crazy off chance it gets lost in the mail on its way back to you: take some scans of the sentimental stamps so in an absolute worst case scenario at least you have that.
posted by Aznable at 3:15 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

FWIW, when I renewed a passport in ~2003, there was a visa sticker of great sentimental value in it. I cleanly cut out that page, and nobody noticed, or at least nobody said anything.

I felt a little silly when I got the whole thing back a couple of months later.
posted by Hatashran at 4:58 PM on January 9, 2015

I have a stack of four expired passports with holes in them. You'll get it back. And thanks for reminding me it's time to renew!
posted by trip and a half at 5:09 PM on January 9, 2015

Every passport I've ever had is in my possession - the old ones have holes punched in them to show they are invalid.
posted by Calloused_Foot at 5:33 PM on January 9, 2015

I had a passport renewed in 2014 and got the old one back with a hole punched through the cover. In the same year a friend of mine didn't get her old one back.
posted by Miss Matheson at 7:07 PM on January 9, 2015

Federal law dictates that a person can only hold one passport at a time, which is why they ask you to submit the old one.

FYI, this isn't true. You can hold valid, unexpired passports from multiple countries (if you have dual/+ citizenship), and also normal and diplomatic U.S. passports, simultaneously.

The reason they ask you to submit the old one is (a) to provide identification and (b) so they can punch a hole in it, rendering it harder for it to be used as a counterfeit passport by someone else (e.g. by altering the date and substituting the photo - repairing the hole is a lot harder). For this reason (and also because it is not true, and therefore is fraud), it is a federal crime to report your passport as stolen/missing when it is not.
posted by Capri at 7:08 PM on January 9, 2015

Can confirm receiving passport back with a hole in it after applying for a new passport. US citizen here!
posted by nathanm at 10:18 PM on January 9, 2015