Americans will be able to apply for their first passport entirely online by the end of 2027, as announced by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Appearing at an event unveiling the new, AI-powered America.gov website, Rubio said the online system will allow applicants to take and upload their own passport photos.
“You probably can’t use those filters to make you look 50 years younger, but you can take a picture of yourself on the phone in the comfort of your own home, or you can upload one directly from your own device,” said Rubio, who promised, “No printing forms, no drugstore hostage photo, no appointment, no line, no middleman that you’re paying to do something that should be available to you [for free].”
Rubio said the system will also allow for real-time passport status checks and estimated delivery dates.
Passport Redesign
At the same event, Rubio highlighted design changes to the passport, which include a more prominent representation of the Great Seal of the United States on the cover.
“[It’s] larger, it’s more prominent, it’s more gold,” he said. Inside pages include imagery representing “the entire sweep of American history from the patriots of ’76, to the pioneers setting out into the great unknown, to the astronauts who carried our flag to the moon,” Rubio added.
However, the redesigned passport shown by Rubio also included an image of Donald Trump on the inside cover. Trump’s face appeared this year on a limited-edition “Patriot Passport” that applicants can request, but it’s unclear whether the proposed redesign for 2028 would include the POTUS’s image on all passports.
David Alwadish, founder & CEO of ItsEasy.com, a passport and visa services company, said applicants who don’t get their passports soon might indeed get one emblazoned with Trump’s image. “Where this summer the public was able to opt in or out of the new design, the one Marco Rubio proposes appears to be non-negotiable,” he said. “Any passport applicant will most likely have zero choice but to get a passport with his historical photo in it.”
Alwadish added that moving passport processing online would hurt revenues at post offices and libraries that currently process applications in person, and said the government must maintain physical application alternatives for applicants who lack digital literacy or computer access, or require disability accommodations.
