For many years, frequent travelers have been identifiable by the thickness of their passports, as US Passport Agencies offered Additional Pages service to sew in extra booklets of blank visa pages. Those days are rapidly coming to an end. The US State Department has officially announced that after December 31, 2015, they will no longer allow US citizens to have pages added to their passports.
The State Department has indicated that they are discontinuing this service as part of a series of measures to enhance the security of US passports, and to bring US passport procedures in line with those of most other nations.
Blank visa pages are required by most countries for the placement of entry stamps upon arrival. Many countries that require visas for US citizens will insist that applicants have two blank pages side by side, so that the visa can be placed on one page and the entry and departure stamps made on the adjacent page. Foreign governments are not supposed to utilize the “Amendment/Endorsement” pages at the back of US passports, as these are reserved for State Department use only.
After December 31, 2015, US citizens who run out of blank visa pages will be required to renew their passport, regardless of how much validity time remains on the passport. G3 recommends that frequent travelers should request the “non-standard” 52 page passport book when renewing their passport. The larger “non-standard” book has nearly twice as many blank passport pages as the standard 28 page passport book. There is no additional fee for the larger passport book.