--- description: The U.S. State Department has stopped issuing passports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with exceptions for people who have a "qualified life-or-death emergency." In a... title: U.S. Stops Issuing Passports Except For 'Life-Or-Death' Emergencies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [COVID-19](/tag/covid-19/) ## COVID-19 Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Stops Issuing Passports Except For 'Life-Or-Death' Emergencies ## Video: Will Coronavirus Ever Go Away? Here’s What One of World Health Organization's Top Experts Thinks [Watch (HLS stream): Will Coronavirus Ever Go Away? Here’s What One of World Health Organization's Top Experts Thinks](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fpC67JXM.m3u8) (2:40)  _Published 2020-03-23. Dr. Bruce Aylward was part of the WHO's team that went to China after the coronavirus outbreak there in January. He has urged all nations to use times bought during lockdowns to do more testing and respond aggressively._ by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 3, 2020 2:51 PM CUT by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 3, 2020 2:51 PM CUT The U.S. State Department has stopped issuing passports due to the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://time.com/5814424/coronavirus-stimulus-student-loans/ "undefined"), with exceptions for people who have a “qualified life-or-death emergency.” In a statement published March 27, the State Department advised Americans to [avoid all international travel](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/passport-covid-19.html "undefined") due to the spread of COVID-19, unless someone is experiencing an emergency and needs to travel within 72 hours. Situations that qualify as “life-or-death emergencies” include serious illnesses, injuries or deaths among members of a person’s immediate family that requires travel outside of the U.S., according to the statement. People who need a passport for emergency travel at this time are required to provide proof of the emergency, such as a death certificate or a signed letter from a hospital or doctor, along with proof of international travel, like a ticket or flight itinerary, and a passport application with supporting documents. Routine applications or renewal requests for passports that come after March 20 will not receive expedited service, and the State Department has said regular service may be delayed. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5815035/us-state-department-passports-stop/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5815035/us-state-department-passports-stop/"},"headline":"U.S. Stops Issuing Passports Except For 'Life-Or-Death' Emergencies","datePublished":"2020-04-03T14:51:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:34:03.641Z","description":"The U.S. State Department has stopped issuing passports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with exceptions for people who have a \"qualified life-or-death emergency.\" In a...","url":"https://time.com/5815035/us-state-department-passports-stop/","keywords":["COVID-19","Brief"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5815035/us-state-department-passports-stop/","name":"U.S. Stops Issuing Passports Except For 'Life-Or-Death' Emergencies"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Will Coronavirus Ever Go Away? Here’s What One of World Health Organization's Top Experts Thinks","description":"Dr. Bruce Aylward was part of the WHO's team that went to China after the coronavirus outbreak there in January. He has urged all nations to use times bought during lockdowns to do more testing and respond aggressively.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fpC67JXM/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-03-23T09:48:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fpC67JXM.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5815035/us-state-department-passports-stop/","duration":"PT2M40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5815035/us-state-department-passports-stop/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```