The U.S. Department of State will no longer add visa pages into U.S. passports beginning January 1, 2016, a release from the US Embassy said today.
Previously, U.S. passport holders had the option to pay for the insertion of additional 24-page visa inserts when valid passports didn’t have adequate space for entry or exit visa stamps. The release said that the decision to discontinue this service was made to bolster the security of the passport and to abide by international passport standards.
Effective January 1, 2016, the release said that applicants in need of additional pages in their valid passports must obtain a new passport. To ease the impact on frequent travelers, the release said Department began issuing 52-page passports to all applicants outside the United States beginning October 1, 2014 for no additional cost. Applicants within the United States may choose a 28-page or 52-page book.
For more information on how or where to apply, interested persons can visit Travel.State.Gov/ApplyEarly or call the National Passport Information Center toll-free at 1-877-487-2778/1-888-874-7793 (TTY/TTD).