Daily AncestorPassport application
A passport application was a U.S. citizen's request to the State Department for a passport; naturalized applicants often gave arrival and naturalization details.
NARA holds applications from 1795 to March 1925; later ones are with the State Department. They usually give the date and place of birth and a physical description, with a photograph from December 21, 1914. A naturalized citizen may state the ship and date of immigration and the court and date of naturalization.
Passports were not generally required before 1941, apart from May 1918 to 1921, at the end of World War I, so many travelers never applied. Aliens could get passports only in narrow cases, after a declaration of intention, under laws in force from 1863 to 1866 and 1907 to 1920. Repeat applications by one person may give slightly different dates.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Passport application." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/passport-application. Last checked 2026-10-12.