Which passport for New York?

Only electronic and/or biometric passports are recognised by the US authorities. Fortunately, there are only these types of passports in France.

What type of passport to use to go to New York?

Since 1 April 2016, all EU citizens must present an e-passport or biometric passport to enter the United States. The old machine-readable passports are therefore no longer accepted.

What passport do you have?

The electronic and/or biometric passport is equipped with a chip that contains all the information relating to the identification of the owner of the document.

Since May 2006, the French administration has only produced electronic passports. On 29 June 2009, town halls switched to biometric passports.

As passports are valid for 10 years, at present there should be no more passports that do not have at least electronic technology, i.e. passports that are older than April 2006.

To make sure your passport is equipped with electronic technology, check that a chip logo is printed on the cover of your passport, at the bottom of the page, under the word PASSPORT.

Validity of your passport

When you apply for your ESTA or Visa, the American organisation in charge of your file will check that the validity of your passport is greater than the validity of your ESTA.

For example, for an ESTA authorisation that starts on 15 June 2016, your passport must be valid beyond 15 June 2018. If this is not the case, start the process to renew your passport. Bear in mind that a biometric passport takes some time to complete, so don’t leave it to the last minute.

Apply for your passport

Ask for a Cerfa form from the town hall where you live if it is equipped with a biometric station. If not, look for your nearest town hall on the website https://passeport.ants.gouv.fr. You can also download the form from the French administration website.

If you have never had a passport, you will need to provide :

• An identity document: if you do not have a passport or identity card, you will need to present proof of civil status (a birth certificate showing your parentage and dated less than three months ago or, failing that, a full copy of the marriage certificate). If you have a secure identity card, proof of civil status is not necessary;
• You will need to provide 2 identical passport photos of 3.5 x 4.5 cm size that are less than 6 months old. You should go to a professional photographer for this, as the photos you submit with your application must meet very high standards. Simply tell the photographer that you need a passport photo and they will know exactly what you need. You will need to be in a full frontal position, you should not wear glasses, you should not smile, there should be no background…
• an original proof of address showing your first and last name; if you do not have a fixed address, consult your town hall;
• All children must have their own passport. It is no longer acceptable to put a child on a parent’s passport.
• For a minor child, proof of parental authority must be presented when applying for a passport.
• Children under 12 no longer need to be fingerprinted (June 2013).

Once you have filled in the form and collected all the necessary documents, go to your local town hall. Allow half an hour to finalise and register your application, as the officer in charge will need to take your fingerprints.

For a passport renewal, all these documents must be gathered, except the proof of civil status which is no longer required. You only need to present the old passport.

The price of your biometric passport

To obtain a biometric passport, an adult must include a €86 tax stamp in their application. Young people between 15 and 18 years of age must provide a €42 tax stamp. A child under 15 years of age will cost €17.

For a passport renewal, the prices are identical. Tax stamps can be purchased at a tobacconist’s, a treasury, a business tax office or directly online at https://timbres.impots.gouv.fr.

The biometric passport is valid for 5 years for minors and 10 years for adults.