Applying for Baby's Passport

In preparation for our trip to Japan and Hong Kong this Fall, we recently applied for a passport for Alex. After hearing about the backlog over the past couple of years, I wanted to make sure that we applied early to ensure that we received the passport with plenty of time to spare prior to our departure.

Surprisingly, things went very smoothly and the whole process was quite efficient. The U.S. Department of State website http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html is easy to use and has all of the information needed to apply for a child's passport. It allows you to fill out the form DS-11 using a "wizard", which is quite handy.

A few things to know, when applying on behalf of a child. You will need to get an official copy of the birth certificate, which can be obtained from the county courthouse. Also, both parents must be present when submitting the application, which basically safeguards against one parent applying for the passport and then taking the child out of the country, without the knowledge of the other parent. It looks like you can have a notarized form which allows just one parent to go and apply, but if you are going to get a form notarized, you might as well go to apply for the passport, right?

The photos have the same specific guidelines which they have for adults and these are outlined on the application and further on the website. Remember, if you are holding the baby, which we had to at the time, as Alex could not sit fully on his own yet, make sure that you have a white sheet covering your body and arms, so that the picture just has the baby and a white background. We took photos of Alex at home (cute ones, I might add) and had to get different ones taken, because a bit of my brown shirt was showing in the picture. Walgreen's did a great job and only charged about $7 for two photos.

So, where do you go to apply for the passport? Not all Post Offices take applications, so click on the link ("Where to apply for a Passport in the US?")at the bottom of the page noted above. If you put in your zip code, it will give a listing of places where you can go to submit the application. We went to a Post Office in Piedmont and they were very organized and helpful. One thing to note is that when I went to pick up the birth certificate at the County Clerk's office at the courthouse, I asked if we could apply there and was told that you cannot apply for the passport at the same location as where the birth certificate was issued. Just something to keep in mind.

So, when you go to apply, make sure that you have 1) application 2) 2 photos which adhere to the strict standards 3) both parents with IDs 4)a check for payment, actually, we needed 2 checks, one for the Post Office, for the processing fee and one for the State Department and 5) official copy of the birth certificate of the child.

All in all, the process went very smoothly and Alex received his passport two weeks later, which was great! Japan and Hong Kong, here we come!!