The United States Department of State has warned Americans to avoid unofficial websites offering passport renewal services, saying many of them pose as government portals while charging unnecessary fees for services available free through official channels.
In a public advisory, the department said some third-party websites are designed to look like official government pages but are operated by private businesses.
These sites often charge applicants extra to provide or submit passport renewal forms that can be accessed directly from the US government at no additional cost.
The State Department stressed that the only official website for US passport renewals is travel.state.gov and urged applicants to ensure they are using a government portal before entering any personal information.
According to the department, the easiest way to verify an official US government website is by checking that the web address ends in “.gov”.
