United States Passports

Portal:United States Emigration and Immigration ► Passports

Passports were not required of U.S. citizens before World War I, but many were issued to those traveling abroad. Passport applications usually provide the names, ages, places of residence, and personal descriptions of individuals intending to travel outside the United States. They sometimes include the exact dates and places of birth and arrival in the United States.

The Family History Library has collections of passport records and indexes from the National Archives including:


 * United States. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Passport Applications, 1795-1924; Indexes, 1830- 1831, 1850-1852, 1860-1925. Washington, D.C.: Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1985. (On 2,090 FHL films starting with 1429876.)

Other passport records are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under UNITED STATES - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION. Later records are generally restricted and are in the custody of the U.S. Department of State.