# How old is your passport? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203 "2008-11-11T16:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/21 "2008-11-11T18:18:52Z")
> [@3acresandatruck](#): > > Mine’s 39 years old. I had to use it last year to renew my driver’s license, in order to prove I’m a real American and make the midwest safe from terrorists. It was greeted with great hilarity by the fine ladies down at the license bureau. They concurred it was the oldest passport which had been used to prove anyone’s identity under the new, improved federal rules, at least in their office. Yes, they accepted it without argument, as they all agreed it met the requirements demanded by law, and they did their solemn duty to compare my current visage with the photograph of my 12-year-old self. And that’s why I’m laughing in my current driver’s license photo. > > I don’t have a current one, as I’m not planning to go anywhere. Heh. Mine’s 42, and I was six months old when it was issued. 😃 I do want to get one, but I was born overseas and my birth certificate is MIA. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/22 "2008-11-11T18:19:43Z")
I always travelled with the military up until I retired, or my oldest passport would be about 40. As it is, my oldest one is my first diplomatic (black) passport from about 1984, which would make it… (takes off shoes to count)…24 years old! Damn! I’ve had four others since then, including another diplo passport, an “official” (red) passport, and two tourist passports. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/23 "2008-11-11T18:26:52Z")
I first got one in… 94? Around there. Used it a few times but it was expired before I went to Italy last year so I had to get a new one. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/24 "2008-11-11T18:41:00Z")
Got my first one at 29 years old about a year and a half ago. Used it for the first time 8 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/25 "2008-11-11T18:44:23Z")
I got my current one in 2002, it is my third, and it is blank, no stamps. I only travelled to Costa Rica on it, and I guess they weren’t stamping that day. My first was from 1984, when I was 17, probably expired in 1989 or so. My second one was the one that got used a ton and a half, I had a job in tech service for a paper company, I had Asia and the Pacific Rim, the other guy had Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Up until he move to another division and I got the whole shebang for a little while. I need to find that one again and keep it safe. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/26 "2008-11-11T18:45:30Z")
I got my first one in 1987, when I was about to turn 19, because I was planning to spend a semester in Spain. (Before that, I’d only left the U.S. for Mexico, and I didn’t need a passport for that.) It expired for a few years in the middle, and I got my current one in 2000, which means it’s expiring in a couple of years. Thank goodness - the photo is terrible! Bad hair and blotchy skin. I’m looking forward to getting a new photo. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/27 "2008-11-11T18:48:50Z")
Got my first one in 1984, and about every 10 years since then. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/28 "2008-11-11T19:31:26Z")
Mine’s 40 years old, and long since lost. The wife and I both have to get new ones this winter, just because. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/29 "2008-11-11T19:32:52Z")
I’ve had mine since my family went to Mexico when I was twelve, twenty years ago. I don’t think it’s ever lapsed, although I can’t absolutely swear to it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/30 "2008-11-11T19:53:48Z")
I’ve had one since I was 7 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/31 "2008-11-11T20:07:14Z")
Mine is one year and a few weeks old, and has an awesome picture of me if I do say so myself. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/32 "2008-11-11T20:14:58Z")
Mine’s now been expired for several years (thinkthinkthink…since 2000?). When I get a chance to go abroad again, I’ll get a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/33 "2008-11-11T20:24:20Z")
> [@Queen\_Bruin](#): > > Mine is one year and a few weeks old, and has an awesome picture of me if I do say so myself. An awesome picture of you? How hard can that be? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/34 "2008-11-11T20:25:21Z")
Aren’t you granted some sort of leeway for reapplying more easily if your passport’s only been expired for a certain amount of time? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/35 "2008-11-11T20:30:42Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > An awesome picture of you? How hard can that be? 😉 You’re too kind, as usual. 🙂 I have a hard time sitting for photos, esp. passport photos. The flash on them is way too bright, all I can think is Bilbo Baggins saying “Struck by lightning! Struck by lightning!” and my face goes all scrunchy. I think the one in my passport was the fourth take or so. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/36 "2008-11-11T20:31:04Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Aren’t you granted some sort of leeway for reapplying more easily if your passport’s only been expired for a certain amount of time? Not sure. But I sent in my old passport along with my new application (and the expedited fee) during the height of “OMG Passport Applications Are Taking Six Months!” mania last year and got mine back in under two weeks. Whether that was because I included my old passport, because of the extra fee or a combination of both, I don’t know. I _was_ hearing that even expedited applications were taking 4-6+ weeks since everyone and their dog was paying the extra fee. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/37 "2008-11-11T20:32:03Z")
I put mine through the washer about 2 1/2 years ago. I needed one about a year and 1/4 ago. So it is about a year and 1/4. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/38 "2008-11-11T20:32:52Z")
Yeah, I didn’t realize the whole backlog nightmare had gone away. I was expecting a couple of months minimum, which is why I put in for it now even though I don’t need it until April. I got it back in 10 calendar days. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/39 "2008-11-11T20:34:44Z")
Mines from 2000. I was about 25% lighter, and when I had stubble verging on beard (hey, it was a holiday) earlier this year I got a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong stare from a Turkish immigration official. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203/40 "2008-11-11T20:36:34Z")
4 years; never had need of one before my dad and I spent a week in London in 2004. I was 35 when i got it, 36 when I used it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-passport/472203.md?page=3)