Yes, There Is Such A Thing As An Infant United States Passport

by adam on February 26, 2010

Although it may seem a little ridiculous to some people, anyone with an infant must have an infant new passport in order to be able to cross a border with a child. There are actually some very good reasons for this and it is actually for the children’s protection, not to make the parent’s life more difficult. There are some exceptions to the process, but it is very similar to what adults are already familiar with in order to get their passports.

There are plenty of people that merely shake their head as the prospect of having to have a passport for their child. First and foremost, it is still a matter of national security. If children were able to come in and out of the country with no checks and balances, pure chaos could ensue. As any parent can imagine, this could lead to plenty of legal problems.

Something else that not many people probably even think of is human trafficking. If the law about infant passports was not in place, people could easily transport illegal children across the borders for a variety of reasons. This goes for kids coming both in and out of the country.

Applying for an infant passport is rather similar to applying for an adult passport, save a few practical differences. Obviously and infant will not be able to fill out his or her own passport form. A parent will have to fill out the forms, and a parent will have to aid in the passport photo process.

Since an infant cannot sign their own name, mom and or dad are going to have to handle the task for them. It is actually a co-signature that goes on the form until the child can sign the passport by themselves. When the child is able to sign their own name, the passport can be renewed with their actual signature on the passport.

If a parent needs to sign a passport in place of a child, the parent must print the full name of the child, and then beside the child’s name, they must sign their own name and write their relationship to the child (mother, father, guardian, etc!) in parenthesis next to their own signature. Ideally, the parent traveling with the infant should be the parent to sign the passport. However, this is not necessary, as other laws ensure both parents consent to child passports.

If a child is not yet 16 the passport can only be obtained if consent is given by the parents. The obvious reason for this is so that one parent does not get the passport and take the child out of the country without the knowledge of the other parent. This will not be a problem for parents that are still together, but if there has been a divorce or separation, make sure time is allotted to get everything together so there is not a problem in securing tickets or making the trip.

Unfortunately, international travel is not always about business or fun. There are a lot of people with ulterior motives that would love to be able to get children in and out of countries with no records being kept. While it can take some time, infant pass ports are a necessity and always will be.

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