US Passport Information and Help Center

Government Passport Fees and Payment

The US Department of State will only accept checks or money orders written out properly. Please make sure that your check or money order follows these guidelines to avoid suspensions of your application:

• DO NOT use temporary or starter checks.
• Must be a check or money order.
• Check must be made payable to "US Department of State." It must be written as "US Department of State" – do not abbreviate.
• Amount must be written out in full. $190 should be written as "One Hundred Ninety and 00/100."
• Write applicant's full name and date of birth on the memo line of the check or money order.
• All personal checks must show a printed address.

See examples below for how to write a check for a US passport:

Making out the check correctly:

Be sure "US Department of State" is spelled out correctly, do not abbreviate.

Write out the check amount in full:

Make sure the amount is correctly represented as "One hundred ninety 00/100".

Both of these examples show the incorrect way to display the written amount.