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February 17, 2025 | 11:27 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As a formal travel document, a passport is valuable beyond its expiration date because it contains personal information. It is not recommended to throw the certificate in the trash without taking precautions. So what to do with old passports? In this article, we will discuss how to handle expired passports, as cited from Islands, IAS Service, and US Passport Service.
What is a Passport and Its Biometrics Feature?
A passport is a formal booklet issued by a national government containing the identification of the holder. These letters of transit allow individuals to travel abroad and cross the border of foreign lands safely, as per Britannica.
By concept, similar documents or endorsed travel letters have been around for centuries. However, the widespread advancement of passport identification only became mainstream between the 19th and 20th centuries.
Britannica notes that the adoption of the passport itself stemmed as a safety measure to avoid fraud across nations. That’s why numerous countries feature digital watermarks, embedded microchips, and holograms that store biometric data.
Biometrics are automated recognition technologies that are used to verify personal identity, taking into account unique physical characteristics of an individual such as faces, retinas, fingerprints, and voice patterns.
Reasons to Not Dispose of Your Old Passports
If you are wondering what to do with old passports, these valid reasons below may inspire you to keep the formal documents intact even after expiration dates.
1. Expired Passports Might Still be Linked to Visas
Tossing away your old passports might not be the wisest decision for several reasons including the visa issues the travel document carries. As per The U.S. Department of State, if your old passport has a valid travel visa, you might need to bring it along with the new one during a trip to specific countries.
However, the rules may vary depending on the country you are visiting. That's why it's important to stay updated with the latest travel information from your destinations.
2. Proof of Citizenship
A passport is a legal document issued by governments, so even when the formal letters hit expiration dates, they still can be used as proof of citizenship in many circumstances. Note that expired passports may not be treated as acceptable forms of identification, as some organizations require valid passports.
3. Proof of Identity
As mentioned above, old passports have a valid identification of an individual. If stolen, you might experience troublesome identity theft issues misusing personal details such as full name, date of birth, and nationality.
4. Historical Records
Expired passports have traveling stamps for their holders to help keep all the useful information needed. Past travel records from previous trips will become handy when someone wants to submit visa applications or simply cross the borders of immigration.
What to Do with Old Passports?
According to the US Passport Service Guide, all U.S. passports issued since 2007 are embedded with a microchip of an individual's data that makes it against the law to tamper or destroy. So it’s best to keep your old passports safe to avoid such confusion or even potential identity theft.
If you're wondering what to do with an old passport, think twice before discarding it. Expired passports still serve important purposes, from acting as proof of citizenship and identity to retaining past travel records. In some cases, they may even be required for visa validation when traveling to certain countries.
For updated travel information, check also the world’s most powerful passports in 2025 here.
Editor's Choice: List of Visa-Free Countries for U.S. Passport Holders in 2025
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