Congratulations! You’ve made plans to take your family on an international vacation! Will you be sailing in the Caribbean, trekking a scenic vista or perhaps touring an historic foreign location? Whatever the case may be you’ll need to make sure every member of your family has a passport. Even the little ones. If you’re looking for instructions on how to get your baby a passport, you’ve come to the right place!
I took my 3 month old baby girl on her first international trip to Beaches Turks and Caicos Resorts for a social media conference. My mom came with me to help out, and nothing was more fun than three generations of girls on a trip together. But that also meant I had to get my infant baby a passport! When you’re needing a birth certificate, social security card AND to wait for a passport to be processed, that’s a LOT of time going by! I started gathering the proper paperwork as soon as she was born.
Print all the Correct Forms
The best place to get forms to get a minor or a baby a passport are these.
If both parents cannot be present to sign the forms at the passport office (or you’re mailing it in!) you’ll need a NOTARIZED Parental consent form.
Grab the correct passport form and fill it out.
Gather Your Paperwork
- Evidence of U.S. Citizenship: You’ll need evidence of U.S. Citizenship as well as parental relationship. Usually a birth certificate of a U.S. Citizen can do all of these. Note that you will need to send in the REAL thing, and not a copy. It’s mailed back to you separately after the passport arrives via mail.
- Evidence of Parental Relationship
- Photo Identification: Copy your (the parent’s) drivers license BACK and FRONT to include in your packet.
- Parental Consent (the same notorized form mentioned above if both parents cannot be present)
Say Cheese – Get a Passport Photo
Okay, there is a discussion here. Few people I have known ave found success mailing photos in. Drugstores don’t get it right anymore, and taking your own photos usually result in it being too small, eyes squinched, big smiles or not facing dead forward. Take my advice and make an appointment at your local passport office. Pay the $15 (same as CVS or some other location) and have your photos taken there. You’ll thank me when your passport is issues and not rejected, taking 3 extra weeks out of your schedule. Even baby photos need to follow ALL requirements and are much trickier to get!
Make a Passport Appointment
See above…. just make one. It’s easy to call the post office and schedule, which means no lines, and you’re out of there in under 3o minutes. SO worth it!
Write a Check
Pony up some cash to get your child a passport. Expedition fees can almost double your cost, so make sure you have enough time allotted to get everything returned to you. Bring a check or cash to your passport appointment.
Buy an International Ticket
If you’re traveling with an infant in your lap on a domestic flight, there is no additional cost, and some airlines like Delta will let a car seat AND a stroller fly for free. However, with an international flight, though the child may be a lap passenger, they need an infant ticket that is usually 10% of the parent’s ticket cost. Make sure to call your airline and add an “Infant in Arms” to your itinerary and be prepared to pay the fee. They will issue you a PAPER ticket in the mail that you will need for both your flight out as well as your return leg.
Wait!
Now you sit and wait. Passports are returned to you a few weeks after they are sent out. Keep tabs on your bank account to see that your check is cashed; that’s a good sign that it’s processing. Enjoy your trip to a gorgeous location like Beaches Resorts!
I won’t take my kids out of the country, in fact I won’t leave either, but this is going to help SO many people looking to travel.
This is a smartly written post. I will have to check with my European cousins to see if they followed some of this good advice. Thank you.
I’ve never had to take the kids out of the country before. This is great information for anyone who’s taking their baby out of the country.
We just got all three of our children passports last year and it was quite the ordeal. In the end everything worked out perfectly and we are ready to see the world!
This is really helpful info. I really wouldn’t know where to start. I need to remember that tip about the passport photos!
These is very helpful! I was just discussing this my husband the other day. We have a 15 month old, and we are thinking about taking a trip. We weren’t sure where to even start to get him a passport.
Yes! As soon as we got our adopted son’s birth certificate, we got a passport. It wasn’t easy as both parents have to be there, but we continue to be ready to fly away should we have to go on an emergency vacation!
Mitch
My daughter is having a baby in the spring. She has been wondering how to get a passport for it! Thanks for the helpful post.
My hubby is the only one with a passport, so I wouldn’t even know where to begin! This was a super helpful post!
I’ve never been out of the country so I don’t even have a passport so needless to say, neither do my kids. I didn’t know it was such a long process and I had no idea there was such a hefty cost involved.
So cute. We don’t have passports for anyone in our family. i really need to get on that. I would love to travel, but we all need to get our passports made. Great reminder.
I remember getting my kids passports when they were babies. This is a great guide.
I remember when I had to get my kids passports years ago. It was a process
Applying for all this kind of stuff is always confusing! Thanks for the tips and instructions!
My son’s baby passport has THE cutest picture. Of course I saved it when it expired, for his baby book. 🙂
This is so helpful. I don’t think many people understand all the steps of getting a passport or that there is a wait before it arrives. Also that kids need them too. Great post!
This is great info! I’ve taken my kids out of the country, but I would love to travel internationally as a family.
I had no clue you could even or have to get a passport for a baby, makes total sense, but I just never thought about it before! Thanks for sharing more about how to get one!
I saved this post, because our family gets lots of looks when out. Two white parents, 4 black children and 1 white. We’ve only gone on road trip vacations, but I can imagine I will need extra documentation when we fly.
Love this, awesome tips! I’m going to have to check this out for my God son.
Getting a passport always seems to be a job in its self. Good idea on the post office photos. Thank you for sharing.