United States passport card

United States Passport Card
The front of a United States passport card
The rear of a United States passport card (2008)
Type	Identity document Travel document
Issued by	United States
First issued	July 14, 2008
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility	United States nationality
Expiration	10 years after date of issue for people 16 or older; 5 years for minors under 16
Cost	$30 (adults) / $15 (minors under 16) $35 administration fee (required for all minor's cards and passports and an adult's first passport. Only one administration fee is charged for an individual applying for both a card and book at the same time.)[1]

The United States passport card is an optional national identity card and a travel document issued by the U.S. federal government in the size of a credit card.^[2] Like a U.S. passport book, the passport card is only issued to U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals exclusively by the U.S. Department of State. The passport card allows its holders to travel by domestic air flights within the U.S., and to travel by land and sea within North America.^[3] However, the passport card cannot be used for international air travel. US passport cards are used to verify identity and US citizenship. The requirements to attain the passport card are identical to the passport book and compliant to the standards for identity documents set by the REAL ID Act.

The passport card (previously known as the People Access Security Service Card or PASS Card) was created as a result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which imposed more stringent documentary requirements on travelers. In 2023, more than 3 million passport cards had been issued to U.S. citizens.^[4] The card is manufactured by Idemia.^[5][6]

National identity cards with similar utility are common inside the European Union and European Free Trade Association countries for both national and international use, with the difference that such cards can also be used for international air travel (within the EU, the Schengen Area and several other European countries that allow entry with a national ID card).