It is a legal requirement that any person, adult or child, wishing to leave or return to the United States of America have their own official passport. Even very small children need to have their own documents. A kids passport can be obtained easily providing you have the necessary identification.
Age Requirements
A child passport will be issued to anybody who is under sixteen years old at the time of application. The application form should be filled out with their details and the parent or guardian will be responsible for giving consent. Sometimes, it can be a little confusing figuring out exactly who is supposed to give consent but you can narrow down the options easily.
Parents Must Be Present
In order for the application to go ahead and a passport to be processed, both the child and the parents must visit an acceptance agent. They will witness the signing of the forms. If possible, both parents should be present. If this is not possible, the absent parent should send in a notarized “Statement of Consent”. Should it be a one-parent family, the single parent will be required to provide proof of a custody agreement or the death certificate of the missing parent. There is a seperate form for expedited damaged passport renewal.
If the child is being cared for by people other than their parents when they make application, a notarized statement or affidavit will need to be presented from both parents or the parent who has sole custody. If there is a custody arrangement, documentation will be needed to prove this. Any documents presented as proof will have to be less than three months old.
US Citizenship
When applying for a minor, evidence of US citizenship will need to be given with the form. Ideally, you should provide either a previous passport or their birth certificate. If they were born abroad, there are a few different documents that can be shown to prove this. If you cannot present one of these primary forms of identification, you will need to provide documentation form the secondary identification list.
Birth Certificate
It is also a legal requirement that evidence should be produced to prove the relationship between children and parents. The most obvious form of evidence is the birth certificate or the “Report of Birth Abroad”, assuming that it shows the names of both parents. If the child is adopted, both adoptive parents names should be present on the Adoption Decree or for more complicated circumstances, a court order could be used to show custody or guardianship of the applicant. Do not forget, if any names have changed since the ID was created, proof of the name change will also be required.
Alternatives
Should the child or children be travelling within the United States to a country that shares a border with it, it will not always be necessary for them to hold a passport. Instead, they could use any one of the major forms of identification. Please check the list of requirements for this.
A kids U S passport is a legally required document for travelling outside of the country. Once you have obtained it, it will last for five years before needing to be renewed. Remember to apply for it in plenty of time before your planned trip. There are also expedited damaged American passport renewal services.
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