What to Bring to Your Embassy Appointment

An embassy appointment is an expensive thing to waste. Arrive with one document missing and you do not get to send it on afterwards, you get a new appointment weeks out. This list is organised by application type, because what an adult renewal needs is not what a child needs.

Everyone brings these

• The printed payment confirmation. Since March 1, 2026 the fee is paid in advance on the government payment site and you bring the printout. No proof of payment means a delayed appointment
• The right form, printed and signed. DS-82 for a mail or drop-off renewal, DS-11 for everything else
• A passport photo that meets the rules
• Your previous passport, if you have one

And note what you cannot do: cash, personal checks and bank checks are all refused. Anyone planning to pay at the window is working from old information.

The photo, and where it goes wrong

Glasses come off. There is no waiver for that unless a doctor has signed a note explaining why they cannot be removed.

Head coverings are permitted for religious reasons, which covers a kippah, a tichel and a sheitel alike. What is required is a signed statement that this is religious attire worn daily in public. Two further conditions catch people out: the covering must not hide any part of the face, and it must not cast a shadow across it. The full face has to be visible.

For a child under 16, add

• Both parents at the appointment with the child, which is the straightforward way to satisfy the two-signature requirement in US law
• If one parent cannot be there, Form DS-3053, the Statement of Consent, completed and signed in advance
• Identification for the parents
• The child in person. There is no way around that one

And remember that a child under 16 is not renewing anything. It is a new application on DS-11, however recent the old passport is.

If your name has changed

A passport issued in a different name requires legal documentation of the change. That applies to marriage and to any other change, and it is among the most commonly forgotten items simply because it does not live in the same drawer as the passport.

Before you leave the house

If you are handling several family members, check that everyone is on the same appointment. Family members can sit under one profile in the booking system, which saves the trip. What you should not do is hold duplicate appointments as insurance, because a duplicate booking cancels every appointment you have.

Where we come in

We go through the file before the appointment, check each document against the type of application, arrange the advance payment and any statements required, and tell you exactly what goes in the bag. Driving to the embassy once instead of twice is worth more than the time it saves.