Safely Discarding Your Expired Passport: A Step-by-Step Guide
Expired U.S. passports, whether book or card, remain valid for up to 10 years. When renewing, you must submit your old passport for identity verification, and it will be returned with the new one. Some individuals keep old passports as mementos, while others opt to dispose of them. Shredding is the most straightforward and secure method for destroying canceled passports.
By Blake Williams4 steps
Destroy an old passport to prevent fraud.
A U.S. passport—whether in traditional book form or the newer card format—remains valid for no more than 10 years. When you submit an application for a new passport, you are required to send in your previous passport so that your identity can be confirmed. That old passport will be sent back to you together with the new one. While some people hold onto expired passports—their own or those of deceased family members—as keepsakes or reminders, others prefer to get rid of them. Shredding stands out as the simplest and most secure method for disposing of a canceled passport.
Step 1
Using scissors, cut out the biometric page from your passport. This laminated page is the sole page in the booklet that holds personal details specific to you. If it fell into the wrong hands, criminals might exploit the information on it to attempt identity theft or to create a fake passport or other document bearing your name.
Step 2
Connect the shredder to a power source and switch it on. Insert the biometric page into the feed opening and wait for the motion sensor to start the cutting mechanism.
Step 3
Remove the remaining pages of the passport one at a time, and pass them through the shredder until the entire booklet has been destroyed.
Step 4
Open the shredder's collection bin and verify that the passport has been reduced to pieces that cannot reasonably be put back together. Pay close attention for distinct strips—if your shredder merely punctured the pages, you will need to run them through again.
