Every US citizen must have a US passport for international air
travel and now that law includes children as well. Formerly, children
could, in certain circumstances, travel under their parent's passport
but new laws to help prevent international child abduction require a
child passport for every minor. The procedures to obtain a minor's under
the age of 16 passport is relatively similar to that of an adult except
for some minor but very important differences.
The child must
appear in person at the office at the time of the application for the
passport. A form DS-11 should be filled out but not yet signed by both
parents. The child must be accompanied by both parents in order to apply
for a passport.
Getting the passport for any child requires
submitting proof of citizenship in the form of a certified birth
certificate, a birth abroad record, naturalization certification or
citizenship certificate. If none of these documents are available, a
combination of secondary documents might be presented but one secondary
document alone is not sufficient in most instances.
Both of the
child's parents must submit their proof of identity such as a government
issued ID or their own passports. In addition, the parents must also
submit proof of their relationship to the child. When a birth
certificate is used as proof of citizenship both parents names will
appear on the document.
Minors aged sixteen or seventeen have
slightly different requirements than younger children applying for
passports. They too must apply for their passport in person and submit
an ID or have their parents submit their identification if they have not
yet gotten one. They however do not require their parents to be present
to apply for the passport unlike children younger than sixteen.
Some
children may be able to travel without a passport but the circumstances
where this applies are limited. A cruise ship which is considered to be
on a closed circuit trip and leaves from a US port with a destination
in the Western Hemisphere may not require the child to have a valid
passport.
However it should be remembered that the port of call in
another country may require passengers to have a passport to disembark.
In
addition, some changes were made as of June 2009 and groups of children
from the US and Canada who are traveling with a school, religious or
sports organization may not require a passport for travel to countries
adjacent to their own. For sea or land travel they may require only a
birth certificate or other documentation. International air travel
though will still require the passport.
When applying for a child's passport,
the wait times are similar to that of an adult's. Usually it requires
four to six weeks for a passport submitted through regular channels to
arrive. Expedited passports
require a more substantial fee and will usually arrive in two to four
weeks. To receive a child passport sooner for more urgent travel plans, a
US passport agency office or website will be able to issue the passport
within 24 hours or if this is not possible, an expediting service can
be used.
