Getting Your Passport
Obtaining your first passport is a surprisingly involved (and expensive) undertaking. This section demystifies the process and offers an opportunity unique to students at UNC: Passport to GO!
Passports remain valid for 10 years. Every student at UNC should make this investment, and UNC is committed to making this an easy and affordable goal.
Seeded by a grant from the UNC Parents Council and sustained by the Chancellor’s Global Education Fund, the Passport to GO! award provides funding for first-year or new transfer students to obtain their first U.S. passport. The primary goal of this award is to encourage students to begin participating in global opportunities early in their academic careers.
Please click here for eligibility requirements and application instructions.
Do you need to apply for a passport? Is your passport about to expire? The application and renewal process may seem daunting. Thankfully, the U.S. State Department provides clear directions that can be found here.
Each year, hundreds of Carolina community members obtain or renew a passport at the annual Passport Drive hosted by UNC Global.
Officials from the U.S. Department of State are on campus once a year to accept passport applications and renewal applications and to answer questions from Carolina students, faculty, staff and their families. Application forms are available at the event, or can be downloaded from the U.S. State Department website.
You can have passport photos taken at the event for $7 (cash or check only) by UNC One Card office staff, or before the event at the UNC One Card Office. You are encouraged to get your photos before the event to avoid waiting. As of November 1, 2016 Passport Services will no longer accept passport photos with eye glasses on. For additional requirements please review the photo requirements on the U.S. State Department website.
