Obtain an Official or Diplomatic Passport

Before obtaining an official or diplomiatic passport, you will need to determine which type you require. Diplomatic passports are primarily granted to Foreign Service Officers (click here for more information on diplomatic passports). If you are not a Foreign Service Officer and do not qualify for a diplomatic passport but you are traveling for official business you are required to have an official passport. You must notify the International Travel Section (ITS) of your passport request.

FAS Employees
FAS employees and Travel Arrangers must use the International Passport and Visa Request System (IPATTS). FAS employees can refer to the How to Guide to obtain a Passport and/or Visa to help navigate the IPATTS system. For those FAS employees located within the DC Metro area, ITS will take photos for you during the appointment to send along with your passport application.

Non-FAS Employees
If you are not a FAS employee, you should work with your Agency Travel Coordinator who must submit an electronic or hard copy 

 to ITS (Room 1069 South Building, Washington, DC or international-travel@usda.gov) on your behalf. If you are not an FAS employee you must provide two passport photos to your Agency Travel Coordinator when you submit your Passport Request Form.

The traveler is responsible for completing either the DS-11 or DS-82 Passport Request Form and providing the additional required documentation to their Agency Travel Coordinator or Travel Arranger (for FAS employees). Refer to the respective forms for further information regarding eligibility and required additional documentation.

Once you have completed the form you must make an appointment to take an oath: If you are located in the Washington, DC area, ITS will contact you to make an appointment for you to take an oath as required by the Department of State.

If you are out of the Washington, DC area, your Agency Travel Coordinator or Travel Arranger will obtain a signed AD-121 from ITS and send to you. When you have received the signed AD-121, you must find an Official Agent who will administer the oath. Once the Passport Request Form has been signed and the oath taken, you must mail your documents to ITS so that they can process your passport request with the Department of State.

The passport will arrive to ITS or your Agency Travel Coordinator when the Department of State has processed it. If you are out of the Washington, DC area your passport will be mailed to you.

Note: During this process ITS needs to validate your employment and check any limitation/Not-To-Exceed (NTE) dates. In doing so, they will be using a NFC system to review this information. If you do not exist in the NFC system, you may need to provide ITS with an SF-50 from HR. ITS will inform you if this document is needed. Work with your HR specialist and Program area to obtain the SF-50.

If ITS requires any further documentation during the passport request process, they will inform you or your Agency Travel Coordinator. They are responsible for processing your request, sending it to the Department of State, and obtaining the official passport for you.

ITS is also responsible for storing your passport within their safe files, you are not permitted to carry your passport when are you not on official travel.