The State Department announced Thursday (November 19) that it is ending the practice of adding additional pages in passports for security reasons, beginning January 1, 2016.

Previously, U.S. passport holders had the option of paying for a 24-page insertion to provide more room for visas, entry, and exit stamps. Currently, the Department of State issues 52-page passports to citizens applying outside the United States at no additional cost. Inside the United States, citizens may apply for either a 28 or a 52-page passport.

Requests for additional pages will be accepted through December 31, 2015. Only new passport requests will be processed beginning January 1, 2016.

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