US State Dept. kept my old passport.?

Question

The last time I renewed, I got the old one back...i may have to prove that I was out of the country in April. How can I get it back?

Answer 1

The passport remains the property of the U.S. government so they basically keep THEIR passport, not your old one.

Getting it back will probably be next to impossible if they have destroyed it. I doubt they have a storage room full of expired passports.

You'd have to call the passport office that issued it to see if it can be retrieved.

Answer 2

I got my old U.S passport first  with two holes and cancelled on it!! This was last month and two days later. i got my new U.S passport.

Answer 3

I don't think they return them anymore.  They kept mine last year when I did a renewal.

Answer 4

I just renewed mine a few weeks ago and the old one came back. I always got the old one back. However, oddly, they were in different envelopes, even though the new and old ones were mailed at the same time, more or less. So maybe your old one is still in the mail.

Answer 5

Its my understanding that they destroy them now after issuing a new one.  Your best bet is to contact them and ask what they do with old ones, and if there is anyway it could be returned.

If you need to prove you were out, try things like plane receipts, bank statements or credit card statements that show out of country transactions, receipts from your travels with the date and your signature, etc.