A new American passport is on the way. Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled the design at the September 29 launch of America.gov, a new federal services portal, and it's scheduled to roll out in 2028. The book keeps its blue cover but moves "United States of America" above a bigger, bolder gold Great Seal, and the interior pages get illustrated scenes from US history — Lexington, covered wagons, the transcontinental railroad, the Wright brothers, Iwo Jima and the Artemis moon programme.
The gimmick travellers will notice: an eagle that shifts position page by page, so flipping through the book creates a flipbook animation. Rubio demoed it on stage. Deliveries will also upgrade from the plain envelope to a presentation box, and the State Department says the book will carry new security features it isn't fully disclosing.
Now the part that matters for anyone who travels a lot. The 2028 book will have 38 pages — a single standard size replacing today's choice of 26-page and 50-page passports. The department frames this as a production efficiency and waste-reduction measure, but it concedes that frequent travellers and Americans living abroad may simply have to renew more often. Anyone who remembers the old days of getting extra pages sewn in for free at an embassy will feel the squeeze: fewer visa and stamp pages means shorter usable life per book. Emergency passports stay a separate product.
There's more on the application side, too. Starting in 2027, first-time applicants are supposed to be able to apply entirely online through America.gov — sign in via login.gov, upload a passport photo, pay and track the application with an estimated delivery date. If it works as demoed, it would spare people the in-person appointment and printed forms, which is a genuine win for anyone living far from an acceptance facility. But the rollout is still aspirational, and in-person requirements may well persist for some.
One wrinkle generating buzz: the existing limited-edition "Patriot Passport" for America's 250th anniversary already features President Trump's portrait inside the front cover, and a still from Rubio's presentation appears to show a Trump image in the new design as well. Whether that's standard on all 2028 passports or just a one-off variant isn't confirmed, but it's a question the State Department will need to answer before launch.
Who should care? Basically every US traveller renewing between now and the end of the decade. If you're a heavy stamp collector, consider applying for a 50-page book while it's still available — after 2028 it's gone, and the 38-page standard may mean an extra renewal every few years. Everyone else gets a prettier, more animated passport and, eventually, a less painful application process.
